A supply-demand gap in data center power is set to emerge by 2030, and it's a big one: 268 gigawatts (GW), according to new data from market research firm TrendForce.

The grid supply is simply not keeping pace with data center growth, TrendForce said. And the divergence between supply and demand will begin as soon as 2026 and then widen sharply after 2028.

By 2030, TrendForce projects that global data center power demand capacity will reach 490.7 GW. Even if every other electricity demand is fully met, the firm estimates grid capacity available to data centers will only hit 222.6 GW, leaving that 268 GW shortfall.

In the U.S., which hosts the largest concentration of data center deployments in the world, TrendForce said the supply-demand gap will surpass 170 GW by 2030. Most U.S. power demand through 2028 is expected to remain grid-connected, with behind-the-meter power emerging as a supplemental fix rather than the primary one.

TrendForce cautions that if the gap doesn't narrow, delays in grid power delivery will become more frequent after 2028.

On-site power to the rescue?

The 268 GW figure doesn't account for potential on-site generation.

Data center vendors, due to these power concerns as well as community pushbacks, are looking to bring power online themselves. Besides natural gas turbines, many vendors are exploring radical options like advanced nuclear, energy storage farms, thermal microgrids or ambient loops and fuel cells.

Regardless, behind-the-meter generation, combined with efficiency improvements to data centers' electrical and mechanical systems, could reduce the overall gap. Although TrendForce does not quantify by how much.

Source: TrendForce

Why the gap, why now

Cloud service providers (CSPs) are racing to build out infrastructure for AI demand, and data center power demand capacity is on track to hit 161 GW in 2026, up about 31% year-over-year.

No surprise that AI servers are the primary growth driver, representing about 33.4% of total demand capacity, up from nearly 25% in 2025, the firm said. TrendForce forecasts that this share will exceed 40% in 2027.

By comparison, general servers’ power demand capacity share is expected to decline from approximately 40% historically to 25.6% in 2027.

The growth trajectory of data center power demand capacity isn’t expected to ease either. In 2027, power demand capacity will stay above 30% due to sustained overall server shipments and continued capital expenditure expansion by CSPs.