Energy

AI share of data-center power capacity

AI vs non-AI data-center power capacity, GW (McKinsey base case).

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About this data

McKinsey’s base case has AI-specific data-center capacity rising from ~44 GW in 2025 to ~156 GW of ~219 GW total by 2030 — AI moving from a minority to roughly half of all data-center power. The non-AI slice is the remainder; the 2028 point is interpolated along that trajectory and labeled as an estimate.

AI share of data-center power capacity

AI vs non-AI data-center power capacity, gigawatts (McKinsey base case).

View data & sources →

Data table

AI share of data-center power capacity — ai_share data table (AI Data-Center Electricity Demand & the Grid)
year ai_gw series non_ai_gw source_ref value_basis
2025 44 ai_share 59 mckinsey-aipower McKinsey “AI power”: AI workload power ~44 GW in 2025; total DC capacity ~103 GW (JLL) ⇒ non-AI ~59 GW (deduction)
2028 100 ai_share 75 mckinsey-aipower Interpolated along McKinsey base-case trajectory (AI 44→156 GW; total ~103→219 GW, 2025→2030) — labeled estimate
2030 156 ai_share 63 mckinsey-aipower McKinsey “AI power” base case: AI ~156 GW of ~219 GW total DC capacity by 2030 ⇒ non-AI ~63 GW (deduction)

Methodology & sources

Last updated: Jul 17, 2026

Methodology

Source-backed values are seeded for all five charts: global data-center electricity consumption (IEA Energy & AI, historic vs base-case scenario, corroborated by S&P Global), the AI vs non-AI share of data-center power capacity (McKinsey base case, corroborated by JLL), the PJM capacity-market clearing price by delivery year (PJM Base Residual Auction reports, corroborated by Utility Dive), the US data-center demand-vs-supply gap to 2028 (Morgan Stanley; Deloitte), and per-site power draw vs a city. Every numeric point carries a sources[].ref and a value_basis. The 2028 available-capacity figure is derived from Morgan Stanley’s ~45 GW shortfall estimate against ~100 GW demand (labeled in the value_basis). ESTIMATE: the AI-share chart uses McKinsey’s published AI-vs-total capacity trajectory (AI ~44 GW in 2025 → ~156 GW of ~219 GW total by 2030); the 2028 point is interpolated along that trajectory and the non-AI slice is a deduction (total − AI). It is a published-estimate split, not a measured per-year megawatt count. Re-verified 2026-06-17.

Sources

Comparisons are informative, not definitive. See each source for definitions and limits.

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