“ As AI continues to drive growth in data centers, it's clear that the future of energy must be carbon-free. At Quantum Switch, we're committed to ensuring our infrastructure supports this shift. AI demands stable, scalable energy, and investing in carbon-free power sources—like wind, solar, and storage—will not only help meet this demand but also ensure that our data centers remain efficient, sustainable, and resilient in a net-zero world.” Timothy Bawtree Chairman, Quantum Switch Group Total U.S. data center electricity demand could grow between 30–90 GW between 2023 and 2030.133, 134 Estimates suggest that addressing this incremental demand could require $4–$9 billion in investment per year from 2023 to 2030.135 In the EU, data centers could account for about 17% of incremental electricity demand from 2024 through 2026.136 In certain markets, that growth would translate into a large share of national demand. For example, the IEA forecasts that data centers could account for 28% of Ireland’s demand by 2026 and approximately 20% of Denmark’s by 2026.137 In some countries, the possibility to develop data centers further has been limited due to concerns on grid and clean energy capacity availability. Keeping up with this growing demand for carbon-free energy in the regions that support data centers will be critical to ensure that AI growth is aligned with, and helps to accelerate, the global race to net zero. Growing renewable generation can deliver a significant share of this rising demand, but the intermittency of renewables will need to be addressed with storage or reliable non-intermittent energy sources. Further developing such solutions is critical to meet the growing electricity demand, including those of AI with carbon-free energy. We see two main areas of opportunity for energy players to work with technology players: improved data center efficiency and new sources of carbon-free electricity. 78 Powering Possible 77