BloombergNEF Raises US Data-Center Capacity Outlook to 118 GW by 2030

BloombergNEF’s latest US Clean Energy Market Outlook raises its forecast for installed US data-center capacity to 118 GW by 2030, 52% above its estimate from December. It also forecasts that average data-center power demand could reach 120 GW by 2035—roughly five times current levels—with AI-related computing accounting for nearly half of that demand.

The revised outlook links the expansion of AI and data-center load to record clean-energy deployment, but not to a renewables-only supply response. BloombergNEF expects the US to add 89 GW of clean energy in 2026. At the same time, it projects that 67.8 GW of new gas-fired generation could be added through 2030, while only 14.3 GW is slated for closure over the period.

BloombergNEF expects a significant share of new data centers to be supplied by local gas systems. The forecast does not identify the capacity, locations, operators or number of facilities involved, but it points to the role of dispatchable local supply where grid capacity or interconnection timing is constrained.

Across clean-energy technologies, the outlook is uneven. BloombergNEF increased its forecast for onshore-wind additions through 2036 by 15%, to 99.7 GW, partly in response to data-center demand. Its storage forecast through 2036 rose 35% from its earlier expectation to 383 GW. By contrast, the utility-scale solar forecast for 2026–2036 was reduced by 7.5%, to 430 GW, reflecting tariffs and the phaseout of tax incentives. The analysts still expect 48.9 GW of solar to be installed in 2026.

For data-center developers and power-market participants, the forecast could indicate intensifying competition for deliverable power, grid interconnection capacity and flexible resources. Renewable power contracts and storage may play a larger role in supply strategies, but BloombergNEF’s simultaneous upgrade to gas-generation expectations suggests that decarbonising data-center load will depend not only on clean-power procurement, but also on access to dispatchable capacity and network infrastructure.