Database entry
Electricitypublished as isOutside the levels infrastructureInfrastructure, outside the levelsInfrastructure18 entriesFigures published by others, reproduced as they are; they cut across the territories without adding to them.Database structure
Electricitypublished as isOutside the levels infrastructureInfrastructure, outside the levelsInfrastructure18 entriesFigures published by others, reproduced as they are; they cut across the territories without adding to them.Database structure 
6Territories
5Organisations
4Occupations and activities
3Uses
2Machine operations
1Calculation factorsAI in data centres, world
The share of data centre electricity used to train and run AI models.
- Selected reference: In 2025, source Projet Celsius.
- The electricity range runs from 100 TWh to 170 TWh, within the scope of this entry.
- Out of scope: the rest of the data centres and hardware manufacturing.
Sentence to citeAI in data centres, world: from 100 TWh to 174 TWh of electricity.
Origin of the value
A range, because each estimate draws the boundary of AI in a different place and operators do not publish theirs.
Characteristics
| Unit | 1 year |
|---|---|
| Location | not applicable: a published total does not depend on the location of the servers |
| Counted | the servers that train and run models, with their share of storage, network and cooling |
| Not counted | the rest of the data centres and hardware manufacturing |
| Status | published, 3 readings of the same scope, 2 other published values |
All the characteristics
| Identifier | IA-0102, projetcelsius.com/en/ai/database/IA-0102/ |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.3 of 2 November 2026 |
| Category | Infrastructure, published as is |
| Year | 2025 (100 to 174 TWh) |
| Choice of the selected value | value taken as it stands from its source, without calculation |
| Sources | Projet Celsius, The Shift Project, GreenIT, 2025 to 2026 |
| Licence | CC BY 4.0 |
Result for the chosen case
Year
Sources of the calculation
1 publication, for this entry and those used to calculate it, with the chosen parameters.
Energy and factors
The references of the selected values and of the entries used in this calculation.
Projet Celsius · October 2026
L'électricité de l'IA dans le monde en 2025
Role and limits : Projet Celsius
Author. Projet Celsius, synthesis of public sources
Reading by the database. Range between estimates
synthesis of published estimates of AI electricity worldwide, taken up in the entry's records
Reference of the variant "In 2025"
Scope of the figure used. World, 2025, the share of data centres that serves AI
Limit. The boundary of "AI" changes from one estimate to another
Published values
7 figures for the same quantity, each in its own scope.
Electricity
| Source | Date | Electricity | What the figure measures | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schneider Electric, cited by The Shift Project ↗Intelligence artificielle, données, calculs : quelles infrastructures dans un monde décarboné ? | Oct. 2025 | 100 TWh | World, 2025, AI uses in data centres | same scope | estimated |
| GreenIT ↗Impacts environnementaux et sanitaires de l'intelligence artificielle dans le monde en 2025 et 2030 | Sept. 2026 | 174 TWh | World, 2025, stock of 1.9 million AI servers (13.1 million GPUs) used at 69% of their capacity all year | same scope | estimated |
| IEA, Key Questions on Energy and AI ↗Key Questions on Energy and AI | Apr. 2026 | 465 TWh | World, projection for 2030, data centres dedicated to AI, base scenario | other scope | estimated |
| GreenIT ↗Impacts environnementaux et sanitaires de l'intelligence artificielle dans le monde en 2025 et 2030 | Sept. 2026 | 1,170 TWh | World, projection for 2030, same method as the high estimate for 2025, 6.2 million AI servers (24.8 million GPUs) | other scope | estimated |
| Database checks and calculations | |||||
| Projet Celsius, synthesis of published estimatesL'électricité de l'IA dans le monde en 2025 | 2026 | 100 TWh to 174 TWh | World, 2025, the share of data centres that serves AI | same scope | estimated |
CO2e
| Source | Date | CO2e | What the figure measures | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GreenIT ↗Impacts environnementaux et sanitaires de l'intelligence artificielle dans le monde en 2025 et 2030 | Sept. 2026 | 99 MtCO2e | World, 2025, AI servers, storage, network and data centres, over the life cycle, excluding users' devices | other scope | estimated |
Water
| Source | Date | Water | What the figure measures | Scope | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Li, Yang, Islam and Ren, UC Riverside ↗Making AI Less Thirsty | Apr. 2023 | 380,000 Mm³ to 600,000 Mm³ | World, AI alone, projection for 2027: water consumed on site and to produce the electricity | other scope | estimated |
The published figures do not all count the same scope; the scope of each figure is written next to it. Why do the estimates diverge?
Methodology conventions
With their alternatives
| The rule | a published total is reproduced as is, with its year and scope; it is not converted with an average factor and does not add to the database's calculations |
|---|---|
| Calculate a case without an entry | The formula, the default values and a step-by-step example |
Uses in the hub
Charts, figures, analyses and articles that cite this entry
History
Entry in version 0.3 of 2 November 2026, in the database in version 0.4
- 11 November 2026GreenIT record for 2025, scope : stock of 3.5 million AI servers becomes stock of 1.9 million AI servers (13.1 million GPUs).The 3.5 million were square metres of data centres (3,483,966 m²). GreenIT's reference flow table (p. 43) gives 1,889,916 servers and 13,077,000 GPUs in 2025; the consumption of 174 TWh does not change.
- 11 November 2026GreenIT record for 2030, scope : 22.5 million AI servers becomes 6.2 million AI servers (24.8 million GPUs).The 22.5 million were square metres of data centres (22,533,412 m²). The same GreenIT table (p. 43) gives 6,211,575 servers and 24,846,300 GPUs in 2030; the consumption of 1,169 TWh does not change.
- 2 November 2026Designation : AI in the world's data centres becomes AI in data centres, world, 2025.More precise designation: the object first, the specification after the comma, the quantity or period at the end; the former title remains searchable.
- 2 November 2026Name, year : 2024 becomes 2025.The selected range (100 to 174 TWh) is that of 2025: the name carries the year of the value.
- 2 November 2026Designation : AI in data centres, world, 2025 becomes AI in data centres, world.The year becomes a variant, and leaves the name.
- 2 November 2026Address : ia-dans-les-centres-de-donnees-monde-2025 becomes ia-dans-les-centres-de-donnees-monde.The year leaves the address; keep the old one in the redirects.
- 31 October 2026Creation of the database, in its first version (0.1).
