AI Power Demand to Surge 165% by 2030, Straining Grids

What happened

Goldman Sachs Research projects global data center power demand will surge up to 165% by 2030 compared to 2023 levels, and hyperscalers are now asking utilities for hundreds of megawatts on three-year timelines. The grid was built for electricity demand growth of 1–2% per year, with decades of warning; utilities are responding that they cannot deliver the power AI companies need.

Why it matters

The pattern mirrors NVIDIA's rise—when the entire economy depends on something scarce, the company controlling it gains pricing power. A single ChatGPT query consumes roughly 10 times the energy of a Google search, and training next-generation large language models requires power equivalent to small cities. Industry forecasts put AI data center capital expenditure at roughly $5.2 trillion（約830兆円） between now and 2030, meaning the shortage of electricity supply could redirect enormous value to whoever controls it.

What to watch

The mismatch between desperate demand and constrained electricity supply is the lever. Unlike chip supply—which NVIDIA largely solved—power delivery cannot be quickly ramped up, creating a structural bottleneck that may persist through the end of the decade.