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Data centers use electricity to run servers, storage and networking equipment, and to power the cooling and backup systems that keep those machines available. The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates global data centers consumed about 415 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2024—roughly 1.5% of the world’s electricity. AI is driving a rapid increase in some server loads, but it is one part of a broader picture that includes conventional computing, other digital services and facility infrastructure.
How much electricity do data centers use?
The IEA’s 2025 report estimates global data-center electricity use at about 415 TWh in 2024. In its Base Case, it projects approximately 945 TWh in 2030. The first figure is an estimate of past consumption; the second is a scenario-based projection, not a measurement or a guaranteed outcome. The IEA’s 2026 update reports that data-center electricity demand grew 17% in 2025. These figures come from different report editions and should be read with their dates and status in mind.
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For scale, a terawatt-hour is a unit of energy consumed over time. It is not the same as a megawatt (MW), which describes power at a point in time or a facility’s capacity. Global annual consumption also does not show where demand is concentrated: a modest share worldwide can still create substantial connection and planning challenges in regions where many facilities cluster.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsGlobal and U.S. estimates are different scopes
A separate U.S. estimate should not be treated as a direct validation or contradiction of the IEA’s global figure. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and U.S. Department of Energy’s 2025 update, published in June 2026, estimates U.S. data centers used 192 TWh in 2024, or 4.7% of U.S. electricity consumption. Its U.S.-only 2030 Reference Case is 649 TWh, with a compounded-uncertainty range of 521–843 TWh. The report uses a bottom-up model incorporating equipment shipments, per-device energy use, cooling simulations, facility types and locations; it also revises earlier estimates using updated AI equipment shipment and power assumptions. Read the U.S. Department of Energy report.
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Why do data centers use so much electricity?
A data center is an electrical system, not simply a room of computers. The computing load comes from installed IT equipment and the work it performs. Facility overhead comes from keeping that equipment powered, cool and available. The exact balance varies by facility type, workload, equipment design and efficiency, so there is no single overhead percentage that applies everywhere.
Servers perform the computing
Servers process requests and run applications. In modern data centers, servers account for an average of about 60% of electricity demand, according to the IEA; the share varies considerably among facilities. AI-focused sites with many accelerated servers can have a different load profile from enterprise, colocation or general-purpose cloud facilities. The IEA’s analysis of electricity demand from AI describes the server and workload outlook.
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Storage and networking support the workload
Storage equipment retains data, while network equipment moves information between servers, users and other systems. These components use electricity in their own right and are part of the IT load alongside servers.
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Operating IT equipment produces heat, which cooling systems must remove to maintain safe operating conditions. Cooling demand depends on the facility’s design, equipment and operating conditions; it is not a fixed add-on shared by all data centers.
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Power conditioning and backup support availability
Electricity passes through power systems that deliver it to IT equipment. Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) batteries can bridge interruptions, while backup generators can provide power during outages. These systems support reliability even when they are not routinely supplying the computing load. The IEA’s discussion of energy supply for AI explains the role of power infrastructure.
How does AI affect data-center energy use?
AI increases demand in part because it is accelerating deployment of high-performance servers, which can draw substantial power and increase power density in facilities. But not every data center is an AI facility, and AI does not explain all data-center electricity use. Conventional computing and other digital services remain part of demand, alongside the storage, networking and infrastructure needed to operate facilities.
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In the IEA’s 2025 Base Case, electricity use by accelerated servers—mainly associated with AI adoption—is modeled to grow by around 30% annually through 2030, compared with around 9% annually for conventional servers. The IEA attributes nearly half of the projected net increase in data-center electricity use to accelerated servers, around one-fifth to conventional servers, around one-tenth to other IT equipment, and around one-fifth to cooling and other infrastructure. These are modeled outlooks based on assumptions about adoption, equipment shipments and constraints, not observed future results.
Efficiency can reduce the electricity needed for a given computing task, but it does not guarantee that total electricity use will fall. The IEA’s 2026 update says power use per AI task is declining rapidly while more people use AI and energy-intensive applications, such as agents, expand. If the volume of computing grows faster than efficiency improves, total demand can still rise.
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- 【Smart Charging for Devices】Automatically cuts power once your device reaches the low-battery limit you set, preventing overcharging.
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What drives future data-center electricity demand?
Forecasts depend on more than the capability of individual chips. The IEA identifies the pace of AI deployment, server shipments and utilization, hardware and software efficiency, and limits in grids and supply chains as important influences. A projection is therefore conditional: actual demand may differ if adoption, equipment availability, utilization or infrastructure buildout changes.
- Workload growth: More use of AI and other digital services increases the computing work facilities must perform.
- Equipment deployment and utilization: How many servers are installed, what kinds they are, and how intensively they are used affect electricity consumption.
- Efficiency: Improvements can lower energy use per unit of computing, although total use depends on whether workload growth outpaces those savings.
- Facility systems: Cooling and other infrastructure add demand, with their contribution depending on design and operating conditions.
- Grid and supply constraints: Connection capacity, equipment availability and local grid planning can affect where and how quickly capacity is added.
The IEA’s Base Case says data centers account for less than 10% of global electricity-demand growth from 2024 to 2030, while also identifying concentrated locations as a challenge for grid integration. Those statements describe different scales: global share is not a measure of the pressure a cluster of facilities can place on a particular grid. The IEA executive summary outlines its global outlook and grid considerations.
Where does data-center electricity come from?
The IEA’s 2025 estimate of the physical global electricity mix serving data centers is about 30% coal, 27% renewables, 26% natural gas and 15% nuclear. These are global estimates; a facility’s physical supply depends on its region and power system. The mix describes the electricity physically consumed, including grid supply and on-site generation. It is not interchangeable with an operator’s contractual renewable-energy procurement, which does not by itself establish the generation source physically serving a facility at a given time. The IEA’s energy-supply analysis distinguishes electricity supply from procurement claims.
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