A recent report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) confirms an irreversible trend: data centers have surpassed the search for new oil fields as a global investment focus. This year, approximately $580 billion will be allocated to data center infrastructure, which exceeds investment in oil exploration by $40 billion.
The IEA emphasizes that this comparison clearly reflects the transformation of modern economies toward digitalization. One of the drivers of this change is artificial intelligence, whose energy consumption in data centers is expected to multiply fivefold before 2030, doubling the current total consumption of such facilities. Although traditional data centers will also increase their power demand, the rise will be less pronounced.
The United States will account for nearly 50% of this growth, followed by Europe and China. Most of these new centers are located in large metropolitan areas with over one million inhabitants, and half of the projects under development have capacities exceeding 200 megawatts, often clustering near similar facilities.
This rapid pace of construction generates significant operational challenges. The IEA warns of problems with power grid congestion and long waiting times for new connections. In regions like Northern Virginia, delays can extend up to ten years, while Dublin has temporarily halted new connection requests until 2028.
Additionally, the supply chain for electrical components—such as cables, critical minerals, gas turbines, and transformers—faces bottlenecks that delay necessary upgrades. As an alternative, companies like Ampersand and Heron Power are developing solid-state transformers, which offer greater efficiency and compatibility with renewable energy. However, their large-scale implementation will still take between one and two years.
According to IEA projections, by 2035, renewable energy will supply most of the electricity demanded by data centers, regardless of whether decarbonization policies are maintained or intensified. Solar power, thanks to its drastic cost reduction, has become the preferred source. It is estimated that in the next decade, renewables will contribute around 400 terawatt-hours to these centers, natural gas about 220 terawatt-hours, and, if they meet expectations, small modular reactors could contribute 190 terawatt-hours.
By: Nestor Castillo, ForAllTechNews Director