Cloud Giants Secure 9.8 GW of Nuclear Power to Feed Artificial Intelligence

Source Domain: energynews.pro

Rising Data Center Energy Consumption: Global electricity consumption by data centers increased to 448 TWh in 2025, projected to exceed 1,000 TWh by 2030, significantly surpassing Japan’s annual consumption.
Escalating U.S. and EMEA Data Center Demands: U.S. data center demand is expected to rise from 31 GW in 2025 to 66 GW by 2027, while Europe’s EMEA region’s capacity is anticipated to jump from 21 to 34 GW by 2030.
Grid Strain and Supply Constraints: Power grids face substantial strain due to bottlenecks such as over 2.5 to 4-year lead times for high-voltage transformer deliveries and interconnection queues exceeding 7 to 10 years.
Hyperscalers’ Nuclear Investments: Major cloud operators contracted over 9.8 GW in nuclear capacity through power purchase agreements or partnerships, driven by the need for baseload generation given the intermittency of renewables.
Algorithmic Flexibility on the Rise: The shift in renewables adds complexity to grid management, which is countered by growing virtual power plant markets, expected to expand from $6.28 billion in 2025 to $45.67 billion by 2035.
Divergence in Battery Storage Models: The market sees a divide between hardware-based and software-only models for battery storage, with models like Base Power retaining ownership of customer-site batteries and systems like Capalo AI managing virtualized storage capacities.

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