Global electricity demand driven by artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to show a trend of rapid growth in the near future, followed by stabilization due to advancements in computing technologies and improvements in energy efficiency, according to the Global Electricity Development and Transition Report 2025, released Tuesday at the Global Energy Interconnection Conference in Beijing.
The report was issued by the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO), the organizer of the conference.
According to the report, AI applications have significantly boosted the electricity consumption of global data centers. Since 2010, the capacity of accelerated computing servers to handle AI tasks has grown four times faster than that of all servers combined.
In 2024, global data center electricity consumption reached approximately 415 billion kilowatt-hours, accounting for about 1.5 percent of global electricity consumption, and representing a fourfold increase compared to 2005. Between 2020 and 2024, the electricity consumption of accelerated computing servers increased about 2.4 times, with an average annual growth rate of 36 percent.
The report noted that AI-driven electricity consumption is influenced by three factors: software algorithms, computing hardware, and the energy efficiency of data centers. AI-based energy management systems in data centers can reduce cooling energy consumption, with current advanced systems saving about 15 percent of the cooling demand.
As intelligent applications spread across various scenarios, the substitution effect of intelligent computing on general-purpose scenarios will gradually emerge, becoming the primary driver of power demand in data centers. AI power demand is therefore expected to show rapid linear growth in the near term.
However, thanks to progress in advanced computing technologies and improved energy efficiency, overall AI electricity demand is projected to follow a logarithmic growth curve—very fast in the early stages, gradually slowing over time, and eventually leveling off.
The report said that AI will become a new driver of electricity consumption growth in certain regions and impose higher requirements on power supply, though its overall impact on global electricity consumption will remain limited.
The conference, which opened Monday and will close Wednesday, has attracted nearly 1,000 participants from over 100 countries and international organizations, including the United Nations.
GEIDCO, headquartered in Beijing, is a non-profit international organization dedicated to promoting sustainable energy development worldwide.