TrendForce: Global Data Center Power Demand to Hit 161GW in 2026, AI Servers Drive Growth

TrendForce released its latest AI Server industry research on September 16, projecting global data center power demand to reach 161GW in 2026, up about 31% year-on-year. The report attributes the growth mainly to AI servers, which are expected to account for 33.4% of total demand.

According to the report, global data center power demand stood at 122.9GW in 2025 and is expected to rise to 161GW in 2026. In 2027, as cloud service providers continue to expand capital expenditures and overall server shipments remain steady, the growth rate is expected to stay above 30%.

The report also notes that grid deliverability was sufficient to meet data center power demand growth before 2025, but supply and demand began to diverge in 2026, with the gap widening significantly after 2028. By 2030, global data center power demand is forecast to reach 490.7GW, while grid capacity available for data centers stands at 222.6GW, leaving a supply-demand gap of 268GW. TrendForce explains that some data center power needs may be met by on-site self-generated electricity, which is not counted in grid capacity, so the apparent gap may overstate the actual shortage; meanwhile, delays in grid interconnection and transmission construction could cause real supply shortages.