Robots could use as much power as 35M US homes by 2035

Wood Mackenzie, a research and consultancy firm, has released projections showing that the global robotics industry could require 363 TWh of electricity annually by 2035—an amount equivalent to the yearly consumption of around 35 million average US households. This finding arrives as energy planners are already grappling with surging demand from AI data centres, making robotics a second and largely unmodelled constraint on global power infrastructure.

The 363 TWh projection breaks down as follows: industrial robots account for 357 TWh, while humanoid robots add a further 6 TWh annually. Today, 5 million industrial robots in operation consume 78 TWh per year—almost twice London's annual electricity consumption. Wood Mackenzie expects the operational fleet to reach 16 million units by 2035 if the sector maintains its current 12 percent annual growth rate. Annual installations have accelerated from 200,000 units in 2015 to 500,000 in 2025, with forecasts predicting installations will exceed 1 million by 2032.

Humanoid robots, still in early deployment, are expanding rapidly. The global fleet is projected to grow at over 90 percent compound annual growth rate from 2025 to 2035, reaching 10 million-plus units with annual shipments exceeding 4 million. A key driver is price deflation: average humanoid robot prices fell 93 percent between 2020 and 2025 to $58,000. Unitree Robotics' G1 model, priced at $16,000 for 2026, carries an estimated annual electricity cost of just $82 at eight hours a day (based on a global average industrial tariff of $0.14 per kWh)—putting the robot within economic reach of many businesses. If humanoid robots reach one billion units by 2050, their power demand alone could match South Korea's entire electricity generation in 2026.

China is the dominant force in the robotics market. It accounts for over 70 percent of annual global industrial robot installations and nearly 90 percent of all humanoid units currently in deployment. China State Grid, the country's state-owned power utility, is spending $1 billion in 2026 to procure 8,500 AI-enabled autonomous robots capable of performing more than 600 specialised tasks—ranging from routine grid maintenance to live-line work on ultra-high voltage power lines. This commitment signals that robotics has become critical national infrastructure. Robert Liew, director of integrated energy research at Wood Mackenzie, stated: "Power constraints are becoming a real brake on robotic adoption, and that matters because labour markets in developed economies are running short of alternatives. Industrial robots already draw 78 TWh a year globally, and that is before humanoid robots reach any real scale. By 2035, combined demand could hit 363 TWh."