Gartner Says Data Center Electricity Consumption to Grow 26% in 2026

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Gartner Says Data Center Electricity Consumption to Grow 26% in 2026

STAMFORD, Conn., June 10, 2026

Overview

Data Center Electricity Consumption to Reach 565TWh in 2026, Up 26% Year-Over-Year

AI-Optimized Servers to Account for 31% of Data Center Power Consumption in 2026

AI-Optimized Server Power Consumption to Surpass That of Conventional Servers in 2027

Electricity consumption for data centers worldwide is projected to grow 26% in 2026, according to Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company.

Gartner forecasts global data center electricity consumption to reach 565 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2026, up from 447TWh in 2025.

“Surging demand for compute-intensive AI workloads is driving unprecedented data center power growth, while AI capacity is now constrained by power availability, making data center power security the new battle ground for scaling and protecting margins in the global AI race,” said Linglan Wang, Director Analyst at Gartner.

Worldwide data center power demand is expected to rise 27% in 2026 and reach 132 gigawatts (GW), up from 104GW in 2025. It is estimated to attain 290GW by 2030, which reflects the unprecedented scale and pace of GenAI boosting demand.

AI-optimized servers continue to fuel the increase in data center power consumption. Gartner estimates AI-optimized server adoption will account for 31% of data center power consumption in 2026, and that by 2027 their power consumption will surpass that of conventional servers (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Data Center Electricity Consumption by Segment, Worldwide, 2025-2027 (Electricity Consumption – TWh)

Segment

2025

2025

Growth (%)

2026

2026

Growth (%)

2027

2027

Growth (%)

Conventional Server

193

0.9

195

1.2

200

2.4

AI-Optimized Server

95

83.6

175

84.2

258

47.8

Cooling and other Infrastructure

159

10.5

195

22.6

243

24.6

All Data Center Power Consumption

447

15.5

565

26.4

702

24.1

The numbers may not add up to totals shown due to rounding.

Source: Gartner (June 2026)

Energy-Constrained Future

With data center power electricity consumption estimated to reach over 1,200TWh by 2030, grid supply will be insufficient to meet the demands of future data center construction, affecting all data center users. “Infrastructure and operations (I&O) leaders must prioritize efficiency upgrades and secure grid access. They also need to invest in high-efficiency cooling systems and edge computing to mitigate power constraints and ensure sustainable, scalable growth,” said Wang.

Additional Insights Available

Gartner clients can read more in Forecast: Data Center Power Capacity and Consumption, Worldwide, 2024-2030, 1Q26.

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Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conference

Gartner analysts will provide additional insights on data center power trends at the Gartner IT Infrastructure, Operations & Cloud Strategies Conferences taking place November 16-17 in London, December 1-3 in Tokyo and December 8-10 in Las Vegas. Follow news and updates from these conferences on X and LinkedIn using #GartnerIO.

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Gartner for High Tech Leaders and Providers equips tech leaders and their teams with role-based best practices, industry insights and strategic views into emerging trends and market changes to achieve mission-critical priorities and build the successful organizations of tomorrow. Additional information is available at www.gartner.com/en/industries/high-tech.

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Media contact

Laurence Goasduff

Gartner

laurence.goasduff@gartner.com

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