Focus · AI and electricity
Data centres
What data centres consume, region by region and company by company.
By Projet Celsius
Focus areaDemand and projections945TWhfor the world's data centres in 2030, slightly more than Japan's current consumptionIEA, reference scenarioOpen the focus area →You are hereData centres1.5%of the world's electricity consumed by data centres in 2024, or 415 TWhIEA, April 2025
Focus areaElectricity grids23%of Ireland's electricity consumed by its data centres in 2025CSO, 2025See its charts →Data centres in Ashburn, Virginia, seen from the air. Photo Theodore Christopher, Wikimedia Commons, CC0, cropped
Charts and maps of the focus area
Charts and maps →Focus area
ChartWorld · 2024 and 2030Data centre electricity945TWhin 2030, reference scenarioIEA, Energy and AI, April 2025Key figureWorld · 2024Electricity consumed by data centres in 2024415TWhabout 1.5% of the electricity consumed worldwideAll uses, not AI aloneIEA, April 2025Chart2020 to 2025, published yearsElectricity use of Google and MicrosoftGoogle, 2026 report; Microsoft, 2026 data sheetChartFrance · 2024 to 2035Data centres in France, 2024-203520244 to 5 TWh203010 to 15 TWh203521 to 32 TWhlow end of the rangehigh trajectory21 to 32TWhin 2035, RTE rangeRTE, Bilan prévisionnel 2025
Analyses and articles
Analyses
Where does this figure come from?
Electricity20 October 2026"By 2030, AI will consume as much as Japan"The comparison comes from the International Energy Agency. It is correct, with 2 caveats: it covers all data centres, not AI alone, and it is one scenario among several.Viewpoint
Society20 October 2026Surface AI and deep AIPublic debate looks at the AI people can see, the AI of chat windows. Its footprint is decided almost entirely below the surface, in an AI with no interface that can only be detected through the electricity grid.On the Projet Celsius blog ↗
Sources for this focus area
- IEA, Energy and AI, April 2025 ↗
- IEA, Key Questions on Energy and AI, April 2026 ↗
- RTE, Bilan prévisionnel 2025, consommation, December 2025 ↗
- RTE, Bilan électrique 2025, February 2026 ↗
- Google, 2026 Environmental Report, June 2026 ↗
- Microsoft, 2026 Environmental Sustainability Report, Data Fact Sheet, July 2026 ↗
Across the hub
AI Impact DatabaseAll the figures, their methodology and their sources.
AI Ranking10 assistants rated out of 100: performance, ethics and environment.
AnalysesThe signed pieces: analyses, viewpoints, "Where does this figure come from?".
Charts and mapsThe reference visuals, with their data and sources.
ToolsOpen calculations, your assumptions on the left, the result on the right.
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