Data Centers Turning To Onsite Power Sources

AI needs are expected to create a 35 GW energy gap by 2030, driving data centers to adopt energy sources beyond the grid.

As the energy needs of data centers continue to significantly outpace supply, a new Bloom Energy report predicts that 35 GW of data center capacity will be announced within the next five years. This is the equivalent to over six times the average energy capacity used by New York City annually. To meet this soaring demand, data centers are adopting onsite power systems as a primary energy source, a shift that reflects the industry’s drive for innovative solutions to address economic imperatives and ease pressure on the nation’s aging power grid.

Data Centers power, Onsite Power Sources
(Photo: Adobe Stock / Generated with AI by weerasak)

The 2025 Data Center Power Report surveyed approximately 100 data center leaders who make decisions about power systems architecture and explored actions they are taking to address the time-to-power challenge.

Key highlights include:

  • In the U.S., an additional 55 GW of data center IT capacity is expected to come online in the next five years (vs. the 25 GW of existing capacity today). Approximately 20 GW of capacity has been announced to date.
  • Data center leaders are taking responsibility for their power needs: approximately 30% of all sites are expected to use onsite power as a primary energy source by 2030 — more than double the percentage reported just seven months earlier.
  • Decision makers are now prioritizing new factors like time-to-power and the ability to support more demanding and fluctuating AI workloads, reflecting a shift beyond traditional drivers of cost and reliability.

“We see AI and cloud computing driving explosive growth in data center demand, and power availability remains the major bottleneck,” said Aman Joshi, Chief Commercial Officer, Bloom Energy. “The 2025 Data Center Power Report reveals that a growing number of data center leaders are turning to onsite power as a primary energy source. This underscores what we’re hearing from customers: they feel the urgency to address economic imperatives while ensuring reliable, scalable energy solutions.”

Joshi noted that customers emphasized developing onsite power arrangements in close collaboration with utilities.

Data Centers, Onsite Power Sources
(Source: “2025 Data Center Power Report,” Bloom Energy)

Access to power is expected to get more challenging, according to survey participants. Public announcements of onsite power deployments have grown rapidly and indicate growth across technologies including fuel cells, which are gaining traction.

The 2025 Data Center Power Report is based on data collected from April to November 2024. Survey respondents represent both cloud service providers, or hyperscalers, as well as single- and multi-tenant data center developers. Bloom Energy also commissioned interviews with key decision-makers and reviewed research from multiple external data sources including Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, McKinsey & Company, and Goldman Sachs.

Read more about data centers and facility management on Facility Executive.

Business Continuity, Energy & Sustainability, Energy Management & Lighting, Facilities Management, FacilityBlog, Featured

AI, Bloom Energy, Bloom Energy Data Center Power Report, Data Centers, Energy, Energy Efficiency, Energy Sources, Onsite Power, power grid, Power Sources, Sustainability, Technology

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