Datacentre power |
AI’s future depends on power availability
AI datacentres have an insatiable demand for power. Where is it going to come from? Drew Robb
The annual Data Center World conference used to be all about compute power and facility management. Over the past two years, however, the primary topic has become electric power. AI data centres are desperate for electricity, whether that is from gas turbines, piston engines, renewables, batteries, nuclear, or fuel cells. Photo: Data Center World
The Data Center World conference in Washington, DC earlier in 2026 was all about AI. But if the vision of an AI future is ever to be realised, vast amounts of new power generation are needed fast. Every projection concerning the power needs of AI is turning out to be an underestimation due to technology innovation.
“Last year, some thought we had over- predicted AI and datacentre build out, yet this year we have had to revise our projection upwards once again,” said Alan Howard, an analyst with IT research firm Omdia. “There is an unprecedented volume of datacentres currently under construction or planned and they are highly focused on time to market.” A datacentre developer and operator known as Aligned Data Centers, for example, has more than 80 facilities under construction. All of their space and equipment has already been leased to customers. But the big constraint for these emerging “AI factories”
is power. No sooner has an AI datacentre design been finalised and approved than new requirements emerge – especially as regards to the amount of power that needs to be fed into the datacentre.
“Partway through one ongoing datacentre construction project, the customer decided they needed 50% more power due to the pace of AI innovation,” said Phill Lawson- Shanks, CEO of Aligned Data Centers. “We needed to restructure everything to be able to introduce enough power from the grid.”
Onsite or grid?
Most hyperscalers and datacentre developers would prefer to receive power directly from the grid. After all, they are not in the business of power generation. But grid interconnection requests from AI datacentres have broken the traditional power provision model. Instead of requesting 20 MW in five years time, the latest generation of datacentres demand 1
24 | October 2026 |
www.modernpowersystems.com
GW, 5 GW, or even 10 GW within a year or two. In most areas, it simply isn’t available. Hence, they are being forced into the onsite power business. Many see this as a temporary arrangement. They can help get the needed facilities built but many will eventually hand them back to utilities to run.
Like Aligned Data Centers, CyrusOne, has entered the datacentre construction business – reluctantly. Where it can, it prefers grid power. For example, it is partnering with Calpine, a business unit of Constellation, to get power for a new datacentre that will be built beside the 1 GW Freestone Energy Center near Dallas, Texas. CyrusOne gains access to power, grid connectivity, and site infrastructure. Calpine is adding another 380 MW to the site.
“Operating power plants is a completely different business and is one hyperscalers and developers have no experience in,” says Gene Alessandrini, Senior Vice President of
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