What's Driving 6,500 TWh of New Electricity Demand by 2030

Data centers have almost single-handedly altered the course of North American power demand, being flat for two decades then seeing the fastest load growth since the industrial boom that followed World War II. 

But zoom out to the global picture and data centers account for only 530 TWh of the 6,493 TWh in projected new demand between 2024 and 2030, less than 10% of the total. According to the International Energy Agency’s base case forecasts, data centers are a US and China story. Everywhere else, other industries are driving the load growth.

To put that growth in perspective, 6,500 terawatt-hours is roughly the combined power demand of the US and EU. 

Key drivers: The largest single contributor globally is non-heavy industry, which includes factories, warehouses, commercial buildings and light manufacturing, that forms the backbone of developing economies. More than one-third of global electricity consumption has taken place in China since 2023, with the Asian giant alone expected to add three times Canada's annual electricity demand over the next three years, much of it through industrial electrification, not server racks.

Taken together, global electricity demand is on track to grow at least 2.5 times as fast as overall energy demand through 2030, adding the equivalent of more than two European Unions in new consumption.