Natural gas producers are benefiting from this increased demand, with S&P Global predicting that growth in data centers could add between 3 billion cu ft and 6 billion cu ft in new daily gas demand to the U.S. total by 2030. Despite growing pressure for data centers to use more renewable energy, the limitations of wind and solar power mean that the bulk of their energy supply must come from baseload generation facilities.
Key takeaways:
- The rapid growth of data centers, driven by the AI rush, is causing a surge in electricity demand that is threatening the energy transition efforts of many governments.
- Wind and solar energy sources have been unable to scale up fast enough to meet this additional demand, leading data center operators to turn to gas, coal, and nuclear power.
- The growth in data centers could add between 3 billion cu ft and 6 billion cu ft in new daily gas demand to the U.S. total by 2030, according to S&P Global.
- The surge in electricity demand from data centers highlights the challenges of the energy transition and the limitations of wind and solar energy, which cannot provide the reliable, round-the-clock power supply that data centers require.