Data Center Power

Data center power is the electricity supply chain that keeps a data center running: the grid connection, transformers, switchgear, busways, uninterruptible power, batteries, and on-site generation behind the servers. Global data centres used about 415 TWh in 2024, and the IEA projects that to more than double to around 945 TWh by 2030.

What is data center power?

A data center is, electrically, a small city compressed onto one site. Power arrives from the grid at high voltage, is stepped down by transformers, routed through switchgear, distributed across server halls by medium-voltage cable and busducts, conditioned by uninterruptible power supplies, and backed by batteries and generators so the load never blinks. The scale is what changed with AI. Global data centres consumed about 415 TWh in 2024, around 1.5% of world electricity, and the International Energy Agency projects consumption will more than double to about 945 TWh by 2030, slightly more than Japan’s entire electricity use today, with AI-optimised data centres more than quadrupling their demand over the same window (IEA, Energy and AI, Apr 2025). Growth has so far tracked the forecast: data centre electricity demand rose 17% in 2025 (IEA, Electricity 2026). The IEA puts the geography bluntly:

“In the United States, data centres are on course to account for almost half of the growth in electricity demand; in Japan, more than half; and in Malaysia, as much as one-fifth.”

— International Energy Agency, Energy and AI, April 2025

In the United States, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates data centers consumed about 176 TWh in 2023, some 4.4% of national electricity, and could reach between 6.7% and 12% of US electricity by 2028 (LBNL, 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report).

How is data center power used in thematic investing?

The investable layer is the equipment between the grid and the rack, because that is where supply is short. Single AI campuses now demand utility-scale hookups: the SK Group and AWS data center under construction in Ulsan, Korea, a roughly 7 trillion won ($5.1 billion) project, starts at 103 MW with about 60,000 GPUs and an ambition to scale toward a gigawatt (KED Global, Jun 16, 2025). Every megawatt of that needs transformers, switchgear, busducts, cabling, storage, and backup generation, the product lines of the companies in the Korea AI Power Infrastructure concept, from LS Electric switchgear to Gaon Cable busducts and Seojin System energy-storage enclosures.

Related terms & concepts

FAQ

How much electricity do data centers use?

Globally, data centres consumed about 415 TWh in 2024, roughly 1.5% of the world's electricity, and the IEA projects that to more than double to around 945 TWh by 2030, more than Japan's total consumption today. Demand from AI-optimised data centres alone is projected to more than quadruple over the same period (IEA, Energy and AI).

Why do AI data centers strain the power grid?

AI training campuses concentrate load on a scale grids were not built for: a single site like the SK Group and AWS facility in Ulsan starts at 103 MW with ambitions to scale toward a gigawatt (KED Global). In the United States, data centres are on course to account for almost half of electricity demand growth to 2030, which collides with multi-year lead times for transformers and grid equipment (IEA).

Which equipment makes up data center power infrastructure?

From the grid inward: high-voltage transformers and switchgear at the substation, medium-voltage cabling and busducts distributing power across the halls, uninterruptible power supplies and battery energy storage for ride-through, and on-site generation such as gas turbines or fuel cells for backup or prime power. Korean suppliers across this stack, from LS Electric switchgear to Gaon Cable busducts, are covered in the Korea AI Power Infrastructure concept.

Sources & references

  1. AI is set to drive surging electricity demand from data centres (Energy and AI) · International Energy Agency, 2025-04-10
  2. Electricity 2026 — Executive summary · International Energy Agency
  3. 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report · Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2024-12-20
  4. SK, AWS to build South Korea's largest, multibillion-dollar AI data center · KED Global (Korea Economic Daily), 2025-06-16