Overview
- An IDCA 2026 report says global datacentre capacity has reached 67.7GW, with five countries holding 69% and the US alone at 29.2GW, as annual investment nears £740 billion.
- Datacentres account for about 6% of national electricity in both the US and the UK, compared with roughly 2% worldwide.
- IDCA links the 5% share to rising public opposition and tighter rules, reporting multi‑year waits to secure power for new sites in parts of the US and Britain.
- UK officials revised projected greenhouse gas emissions from AI datacentres upward by about 100 times, reflecting far higher expected power demand.
- The report estimates about 13% of US datacentre load is unused but still live capacity, or roughly 3GW, highlighting a near‑term efficiency fix.