AI and electricity
Data centres consumed about 415 TWh in 2024, 1.5% of the world's electricity. In the IEA reference scenario, this would be 945 TWh in 2030, driven mainly by AI, the United States and China.
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 →
Focus areaData centres1.5%of the world's electricity consumed by data centres in 2024, or 415 TWhIEA, April 2025Open the focus area →
Focus areaElectricity grids23%of Ireland's electricity consumed by its data centres in 2025CSO, 2025See its charts →Charts and maps of the topic
Charts and maps →Focus area
ChartWorld · 2030Data centre electricity consumption in 2030, according to 3 studiesIEA945GreenIT, AI1,169Shift Project1,250 to 1,50005001,0001,500 TWh1,250 to 1,500TWhthe highest, Shift ProjectIEA, 2026; Shift Project, 2025; GreenIT, 2026ChartWorld · 2024 and 2030Data centre electricity945TWhin 2030, reference scenarioIEA, Energy and AI, April 2025ChartCountries · 2023 to 2025Data centres' share of electricityIreland, 202523 %Netherlands4.6 %United States4.4 %World1.5 %France1 %23%of Ireland's electricityCSO; CBS; LBNL; IEA; RTEKey figureWorld · 2030Data centre electricity in 2030, baseline scenario945TWhAll uses, IEA scenarioIEA, April 2025Key figureWorld · 2024Electricity consumed by data centres in 2024415TWhabout 1.5% of the electricity consumed worldwideAll uses, not AI aloneIEA, April 2025ChartFrance · 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
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Chart2020 to 2025, published yearsElectricity use of Google and MicrosoftGoogle, 2026 report; Microsoft, 2026 data sheetMapWorld · 2025The low-carbon share of electricityNorway 99%France 95%United States 43%low-carbon share43%world averageEmber, via Our World in DataKey figureWorld · 2025Electricity consumed by AI worldwide in 2025100 to 174TWh2 estimates, low and highSchneider Electric; GreenITChart2025What share of data centre electricity does ChatGPT account for?All data centres485 TWhFrance451 TWhAI, high estimate174 TWhAI, low estimate100 TWhChatGPT0.32 TWhIEA; RTE; GreenIT; Shift Project; ADEME
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 topic
- IEA, Energy and AI, April 2025 ↗
- IEA, Key Questions on Energy and AI, April 2026 ↗
- The Shift Project, Intelligence artificielle, données, calculs : quelles infrastructures dans un monde décarboné ?, October 2025 ↗
- GreenIT, Impacts environnementaux et sanitaires de l'intelligence artificielle dans le monde en 2025 et 2030, September 2026 ↗
- Central Statistics Office (Irlande), Data Centres Metered Electricity Consumption 2025 ↗
- CBS (Netherlands), Data centres consume 4.6 percent of the Netherlands' electricity, December 2025 ↗
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2024 United States Data Center Energy Usage Report, December 2024 ↗
- 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 ↗
- ADEME, avis sur l'intelligence artificielle générative, July 2026 ↗
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