"Electricity-Guzzling Hippo" Data Centers... "Power Consumption to Increase 2.3 Times in 2 Years"

Due to the steady increase in power consumption of data centers worldwide caused by the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI), it is analyzed that the power consumption of data centers will reach up to 2.3 times the level of 2022 by 2026.

On the 28th, the International Energy Agency (IEA) stated in the "Electricity Report 2024 (Analysis and Outlook until 2026)" that the power used by data centers worldwide in 2022 was 460 terawatt-hours (TWh), accounting for 2% of the world's total power demand, but it is expected to increase to 620?1050 TWh by 2026.

The IEA pointed to generative AI as the main cause of the increase in power consumption of data centers. Data centers operate servers that compute and store large-scale data and serve as the brain supporting internet services. The more data to be processed, the more power is consumed, and recently, the rapid increase in the use of generative AI has caused a surge in power consumption.

Currently, more than 8,000 data centers are operating worldwide, with about 33% located in the United States, 16% in Europe, and 10% in China. In some countries where data centers are concentrated, problems related to power supply and demand have already become frequent. PJM, the largest power grid operator in the United States, invested 5 billion dollars last December to reinforce the transmission network in Virginia. As data centers were established and power outlook became unstable, infrastructure maintenance was initiated.

In the case of Ireland, 82 data centers have gathered due to low corporate tax rates. Additionally, 14 are currently under construction, and 40 more have been approved. Data centers now account for one-fifth of the country's power consumption, and the Irish authorities eventually introduced an emergency program last winter to temporarily suspend power supply.

In the report, the IEA pointed out that to mitigate the impact of the rapid increase in power consumption of data centers, "power efficiency must be improved along with related regulations and technological advancements." It also suggested solutions such as hyperscale data centers with high scalability and availability, and replacing them with quantum computers that consume less power.