According to a new Wood Mackenzie report, data centers exceeded since 2023 at the end of 2024 92 GW capacity.
The increasing demand for electricity in the United States is attributed to the growing number of data centers that come online. According to the report “US Data Center Pipeline” by Wood Mackenzie, data centers developed since 2023 have exceeded more than 92 GW capacity at the end of 2024.
In one PV -Magazine articleGerard Reid is of the opinion that in ‘the next industrial revolution’ the rapid acceptance of artificial intelligence stimulates the demand for data centers. The data center operation then stimulates an increased demand for electricity. Reid said that the combination of clean electricity and AI will bring what he calls an ‘era of electrification intelligence’.
According to the Wood Mackenzie report, the monthly data center supplements reached 7 GW in the fourth quarter of 2024, which represents a high tax on the tax.
“In 2023 we only saw 5 GW pipeline capacity,” said Ben Hertz-Shargel, worldwide head of the edge for Wood Mackenzie. “Monthly growth has been linear – not exponentially as is sometimes assumed – but has exceeded 7 GW and continues to climb at a speed of 227 MW per month.
Virginia and Texas remain the dominant data center markets regionally and the report shows that they have experienced the most total growth.
Data centers are the property of companies such as Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Google, which are also large subscribers for solar energy to compensate for their electricity use. The sun plants are often in the same geographical region as the data centers they serve.
Meta, for example, recently signed an agreement with Cypress Creek Renewables, which means that the construction of the possibilities is possible 505 MWDC Hanson Solar Facility In Coleman County, Texas. Meta reports that it now has 6.7 GW of renewable energy and 11.7 GW has been contracted. The company said that 100% of its electricity use corresponds to renewable energy by adding new clean energy projects to local schedules.
As data centers spread, the report notes that new markets arise, with data centers found in Louisiana, Mississippi, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
Amazon, for example, recently recently has the full capacity of the Ragsdale Solar Park In Madison County, Mississippi.
“Developers are looking for opportunities in emerging states, where they can get favorable stimuli,” said Hertz-Shargel. “These are some of the largest projects ever built.”
There are currently at least 93 projects under construction in the United States, according to the lens force of Wood Mackenzie, and almost as much in the permit process that are even greater.
With the size comes costs, with Wood Mackenzie 13 of the projects that arrive at more than $ 4 billion.
The report notes that of those projects that follow, 73% of the $ 195 billion in Capex are up to the 22% of the projects of more than $ 1 billion.
In addition to large investments and the need for large electricity taxes, data centers also require large pieces of land. The report notes that the median data center -Square image material increased by 9.5% from 2023 to 2024 and the average Campus Square Visual Material rose by more than 23% in that period.
“The growing project size is the proof of the transition to AI-Deskloads,” said Hertz-Shargel, “but creates even greater challenges for both developers and utilities.”
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