A new report by Capgemini Research Institute says that growing use of onsite energy — by data centers and others — could lead to the rise of a shadow grid that operates outside the purview of electric utilities.
The report, AI Meets the Grid: Shaping the Data Center Power Play, also finds that 86% of data center operators worldwide see grid independence as a competitive advantage.
- Nearly three in ten already deploy onsite power, such as gas turbines, fuel cells, renewables and hybrid microgrids
- 39% plan to add onsite/behind-the-meter generation within the next one to two years
- Over 70% expect to deploy onsite energy in the next five years to reduce their reliance on the grid
“What began as a stopgap is fast becoming a strategic imperative for growth,” the report says. “This trend marks a structural shift in the energy ecosystem, effectively creating a cooperate–and–compete dynamic between utilities and their largest customers.”
Utilities must become orchestrators of the distributed grid or else “risk losing load and revenue and seeing fragmented ‘shadow grids’ operate outside their purview,” according to the report.
Forecasters expect 100 GW of new data centers to be built from 2026 to 2030, doubling global capacity to 100 GW and requiring a $3 trillion investment.
Next-generation nuclear is unlikely to play a significant role in meeting the demand. Only 82% of electricity executives (and 61% of data-center executives) surveyed for the report believe that nuclear power (including small modular reactors) can be deployed quickly enough to support data centers in the next 3–5 years.
More energy-efficient computing will help curb demand, but not one-to-one, because as AI systems become more efficient, they are likely to increase their workloads, according to the report.
Capgemini surveyed 612 senior utility leaders and 175 senior data center executives in 21 countries.
