Data center energy demand to double by 2030, as Microsoft signs record renewable energy deal amid rising emissions.

The energy demand from data centers is expected to double from 2022 levels to 35 GW/hour by 2030, according to McKinsey & Company. The largest data center in the world is China Telecom’s Inner Mongolia Information Park, which consumes up to 150 MW per hour. Data centers are becoming more high-density and power intensive, but also more efficient. Data Center Alley in North Virginia houses around 300 facilities, each consuming about 50 times the energy per square meter of a typical commercial office. Power densities have fallen from an average 1.58 in 2020 to 1.4 in 2030, as power density and cooling efficiency have risen. Microsoft and Brookfield signed a record 10.5 GW deal to deliver solar, wind, and “new or impactful carbon-free energy generation technologies” to Microsoft from 2026 to 2030. Microsoft’s CO emissions are now up 30% from when it set its 2030 net-zero target.