CHINA WILL BE VERY MUCH SHORT IN LITHIUM, page-286

Data about the DATA CENTRES


I think it's time know more about the data centres (traditional and AI data centres) because I believe data centres will be the biggest battery buyers of the coming years.

We can see that the largest portion of data centres are located in the US. They account for about 4% of total U.S. electricity consumption. But by 2030, that share is forecasted to rise to 12%, due to unprecedented growth in computing power, storage needs, and AI data centres and AI training.

"In the modern era, data centers function ceaselessly to uphold the demands of a globalized society that thrives on connectivity. Data centers facilitate uninterrupted services, ensuring 24/7 availability in various sectors including business, e-commerce, and entertainment. Maintaining constant uptime requires robust backup power solutions".

The U.S. data center energy demand is set to jump
from 224TWh in 2025
to 606TWh in 2030.

A Strain on the U.S. Grid

The U.S. has experienced relatively flat power demand since 2007. Models suggest that this stability could be disrupted in the coming years. Data center growth alone could account for 30–40% of all net-new electricity demand through 2030.




Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) are crucial for the data centres, especially for the ones in the US.

That means that the US grid will be overloaded and data center operation will be interrupted by the power outages. However data centers operate continuously, requiring substantial power to support their systems and equipment.



The power consumption in data centers is typically divided between IT equipment and infrastructure resources like cooling and power conditioning systems.

• Computing: 40%
• Cooling: 40%.
• Other associated IT equipment: 20%

There are about 11,800 data centers worldwide
(As of Feb 2024)

1. United States: 5,381 (45.6% of global total)
2. Germany: 521 (4.4%)
3. United Kingdom: 514 (4.4%)
4. China: 449 (3.8%)
5. Canada: 336 (2.8%)
6. France: 315 (2.7%)
7. Australia: 307 (2.6%)
8. Netherlands: 297 (2.5%)
9. Russia: 251 (2.1%)
10. Japan: 219 (1.9%)

460TWh in 2022
In 2022, data centres, cryptocurrencies, and artificial intelligence (AI) consumed about 460 TWh of electricity worldwide, almost 2% of total global electricity demand.

1,000TWh in 2026 (Est.)
2026 Estimate: more than 1,000TWh by 2026 in a worst-case scenario.
due to the power-intensive workloads such as AI and cryptocurrency mining

1,500TWh in 2030
This is in a higher-growth scenarios, up to 1,500 TWh, Goldman Sachs estimates a 165% increase in global power demand from 2023 levels, potentially reaching 1,200–1,500 TWh

IEA - International Energy Agency
"Electricity 2024- Analysis and forecast to 2026"




AI Implications for Power Consumption
"Powering Intelligence: Analyzing Artificial Intelligence and Data Center Energy Consumption"

In the latter half of the 20th century, AI applications typically involved rule-based strategies and small machinelearning models that used very little electricity. However, as the 21st century unfolded, AI systems witnessed exponential growth in their complexity and computational requirements. On a global level, the US has been leading in the development of prominent AI systems, with the creation of 16 such systems since 2022, compared to the United Kingdom’s eight and China’s three.

Key AI-related technological drivers contributing to escalating data center electricity demands include:

• The exponential growth of data generation: The dramatic rise in global consumer IP traffic represents a reflection of the “big data” wave, part of which has resulted from feeding AI models with diverse and large datasets.
• The increasing complexity of AI models: Initially constituted as rule-based entities functioning through coded instructions, AI models have undergone a monumental transformation, becoming increasingly complex and capable over time, in turn increasing their computational demands.
• The continuous operational demands of a digital ecosystem: In the modern era, data centers function ceaselessly to uphold the demands of a globalized society that thrives on connectivity. Data centers facilitate uninterrupted services, ensuring 24/7 availability in various sectors including business, e-commerce, and entertainment. Maintaining constant uptime requires robust backup power solutions.