Global AI eats 4.3GW, and it will triple by 2028

Author: EIS Release Date: Nov 1, 2023

AI represents 4.3GW of power demand today, according to an estimate by Schneider Electric, growing at a CAGR between 26 and 36%, to reach 13.5 to 20GW by 2028.

 

Schneider electric global AI power report

4.3GW is about as much as Denmark consumes*.

 

“This growth is two to three times that of overall data center power demand CAGR of 11%,” according to the company. “One key insight is that inference loads will increase over time as more newly trained models are transitioned to production. Actual energy demand will heavily depend on technology factors including successive generations of servers, more efficient instruction sets, improved chip performance and continued AI research.”

 

 

Schneider Electric

estimates Year 2023 Year 2028

Total data center

workload 54GW 90GW

AI workload 4.3GW 13.5-20GW

AI compared

with total) 8% 15-20%

training vs

inference

workload 20% training

80% inference 15% training

85% inference

central vs

edge

workload 95% central

5% edge 50% central

50% edge

The figures in the table come from a report in which Schneider explains relevant attributes and trends of AI workloads, and predicts resulting data center challenges.

 

 

“Guidance to address these challenges is provided for each physical infrastructure category including power, cooling, racks, and software management,” it said.

 

The report, ‘AI disruption: Challenges and guidance for data center design‘ can be downloaded without payment