IEA Warns AI Data Centres Pose Growing Threat to Global Power Grids
Data centre electricity demand is expected to double by 2030, raising concerns over grid reliability and resilience
By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS –UN economic commission for Europe on Tuesday has warned that the use of data-intensive technologies in particular artificial intelligence data centres is growing faster than electricity infrastructure can handle raising concerns about the future reliability and resilience of energy systems worldwide cited the intergovernmental International Energy Agency.
According to the intergovernmental International Energy Agency the datacentre consumption is expected to double by 2030 from 485 Terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025 to 950 TWh by 2030, equivalent to three per cent of global demand.
The investment in datacentre infrastructure worldwide is forecast to double only by 2050 from around $800 billion per year in 2026 to $1.8 trillion per year in 2050.
The Geneva-based UN commission UNECE warned that in many regions, datacentres and other energy-intensive facilities are being built much faster than the power grids needed to supply them.
A large facility can often be built and connected within two to five years, but expanding transmission lines and other grid infrastructure can take more than 10 years because of lengthy planning, approval and construction processes, IEA stated.
UNECE voiced concerns that overloading electricity systems could cause voltage oscillations, unintended disconnections, and cascading failures.
UNECE pointed out that this is already happening in some extreme cases, in systems that depend on renewable energy sources.
It said traht electricity demand from AI datacentres is volatile and can spike unexpectedly: grids that rely on renewable energies cannot adjust in real time.
UN agency said that this mismatch between demand and supply has led several countries to take energy-saving measures to prevent overloading their national networks.
Ireland has one of the highest concentrations of datacentres in the world has introduced connection restrictions in Dublin, and the Netherlands has introduced constraints on where datacentres can be built.
The important unresolved issue is who should pay for the grid upgrades.
UN agency said that connecting large data centres can require significant infrastructure investment, but there is no consistent framework determining how these costs should be divided between data-centre developers, electricity companies and consumers.
UNECE warned that necessary investment may be delayed without clear rules.
The regulatory gaps also persist over where data centres should be located.
Power-intensive facilities continue to cluster in areas offering favourable connectivity and regulatory conditions, concentrating demand in places where local grids may not have the capacity to support it.
Environmental regulation is also to expand beyond electricity consumption to the wider impacts of datacentres on water use, emissions and local resources.
UNECE warned that these rules remain too fragmented
The regulators also lack sufficient information about how large facilities use electricity in real time, making it harder to anticipate their impact on the grid.
UNECE has called for greater regulation and coordination to ensure the long-term reliability and resilience of what are increasingly essential energy systems.
