Data centres could be using more than twice as much energy by 2026, fuelled largely by demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and cryptocurrencies.
According to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centres accounted for around 2% of the global electricity demand in 2022, using around 460TWh of power.
This includes traditional demands such as power for household heating and lighting, but emerging technologies are increasingly adding to the demand.
Crypto ‘mining’ alone is estimated to account for almost a quarter of the power generated in 2022, using 110TWh.
AI is also demanding increasing amounts of power, with powerful and complex systems requiring vast amounts of data for training.
Other sources of rising demand include more powerful computers, cloud-based services, streaming services and expanding 5G networks.
The report estimated that the data centre sector could be using 1,000TWh by 2026 – equivalent to the amount of power currently used by the whole of Japan.
According to the IEA, there are currently around 8,000 data centres active around the world.
Europe is home to around 16% of the world’s data centres
The US hosts the highest number of data centres, with around a third (33%).
China is home to around 10%, with 16% based in Europe.
This equates to about 1,240 data centres in Europe, with the majority grouped around financial centres including, Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin.
European data centres consumed approximately 100TWh in 2022, which was nearly 4% of the EU’s total usage.
The report estimates that data centre power usage in the EU could rise to 150TWh by 2026.
Ireland already has 82 data centres, which accounted for almost a fifth (17%) of its energy usage in 2022.
With one of the EU’s lowest corporate tax rates, the number of facilities is expected to increase considerably, with another 14 already under construction and 40 approved for work to begin.
By 2026, the report says, data centres may account for almost a third (32%) of Ireland’s total electricity usage.
This could pose challenges for the country’s power grid as a whole in terms of stability and reliability, the report warns.
On average, 40% of a data centre’s electricity use comes from actual computing, with a similar proportion used for cooling systems and the rest going to other IT equipment.
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