Data Centres and the Cloud
Power: The Biggest Cost
Why electricity is the largest operating cost for data centres, how efficiency is measured by PUE, and why data centres seek renewable power.
Electricity is the lifeblood of data centres.
Scale
- A large data centre can use as much power as a small town.
- The International Energy Agency estimated global data centre electricity use could roughly double between 2024 and 2030, driven partly by AI.
PUE
Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) = total facility power ÷ power used by IT equipment.
- A PUE of 1.0 would mean all power goes to computing.
- Modern efficient centres reach around 1.2 to 1.4; older ones may be above 2.
India’s challenge
- Hot climate raises cooling needs.
- Grid reliability varies, requiring backup.
Renewable power
Data centre operators sign power purchase agreements for solar and wind, and use open access rules to buy green power.
Grid planning
States competing for data centres offer power incentives and dedicated substations.
Economics
Power can be 30 to 50 percent or more of operating costs.
A data centre uses 12 MW in total, of which 10 MW powers servers. Its PUE is 1.2, meaning 2 MW goes to cooling and other uses.
Data centres use large and growing amounts of electricity.
- Electricity is data centres' key input and cost.
- PUE measures efficiency; lower is better.
- India's heat raises cooling needs.
- Operators buy renewable power.
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