Europe’s data center power consumption is expected to nearly triple by 2030, growing from 62 terawatt hours (TWh) today to more than 150 TWh by the end of the decade, McKinsey’s report said.
The total IT load demand for data centers in Europe (including the EU, Norway, Switzerland, and the UK) is projected to rise to around 35 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, up from 10 GW currently.
Data centers are expected to account for 5 percent of Europe’s total electricity consumption by 2030, compared to about 2 percent today. Between 2023 and 2030, electricity demand for data centers in Europe is projected to increase by approximately 85 TWh, with a CAGR of about 13 percent.
Meeting the power demand for data centers will require an investment of $250-300 billion in data center infrastructure, excluding the cost of additional power generation.
In Europe, data centers will be accounting for about 5 percent of total European power consumption in the next six years from approximately 2 percent today.
About $10 trillion of economic value could be created across the global economy by AI and analytics. Realizing even a quarter of this potential by the end of the decade would require an additional 50 to 75 GW of data center infrastructure worldwide.
Europe will need to focus on securing additional electricity supply, primarily from low-carbon sources, and upgrading its grid infrastructure.
Companies such as AWS (Amazon Web Services) are actively purchasing substantial carbon removal credits to offset their emissions. For example, AWS has committed to buying CO2 removals of 250,000 metric tons over a decade.
The demand for data centers is driven by rising digitalization and advancements in artificial intelligence (AI). Europe, alongside the U.S. and China, is set to see a significant rise in data center installations in the coming years.
“Meeting the rise in electricity demand will require an increase in electricity supply; a notable shift for Europe, where aggregate power demand has remained relatively stagnant since 2007,” the McKinsey report said.
The research report is prepared by Anna Granskog (partner), Sofia von Schantz (associate partner), Diego Hernandez Diaz (partner), Lorenzo Moavero Milanesi (senior partner), Pankaj Sachdeva (senior partner), and Arjita Bhan (consultant).
