Reuters reported a Bank of America Global Research forecast of $2.1 trillion in data center spending by 2028, while the IEA projects data center electricity use nearly doubling and says bottlenecks limit aggressive power-demand scenarios.
The bank’s Oct. 23 note put spending at $1 trillion in 2026 and tied the outlook to demand for and development of artificial intelligence services, Reuters reported.
Reuters said the research valued the data center market at $275 billion in 2022 and projected a possible $2.93 trillion valuation in 2030. It put the market’s compound annual growth rate at 37% for 2025 through 2030.
For each megawatt of capacity, the estimate assigned $31.4 million to servers. It put construction costs at $49 million per megawatt, with information technology expenses accounting for 78% of the total, Reuters reported.
Chipmakers and server developers have been among the main beneficiaries of the buildout, particularly in the United States, Reuters said. The outlet also reported that data center spending is becoming a fast-growing revenue source for industrial firms making generators, construction equipment, switchgear and chillers.
The IEA projects data center electricity consumption will rise from 485 terawatt-hours in 2025 to 950 terawatt-hours in 2030, about 3% of global electricity demand. It expects consumption at AI-focused data centers to triple over the same period. The outlook adds to the IEA’s earlier warnings about rising data center power demand.
The agency said bottlenecks in energy supply chains and advanced chip manufacturing, along with pressure on planning and regulatory systems, make more aggressive near-term electricity-demand scenarios less likely. Communities have raised affordability and environmental concerns. Where supply is tighter, new power generation and grid investment to serve data centers could put pressure on electricity prices, the IEA said.
The agency plans to update its projections regularly but has not announced a date for its next update.
