- Bloom Energy (BE, Financial) reveals data centers increasingly rely on onsite power as grid constraints affect AI expansion.
- By 2030, 27% of data centers are expected to be fully powered by onsite generation.
- Access to reliable power now plays a critical role in site selection for new data centers.
Bloom Energy (BE), a key player in power solutions, has released a mid-year update to their 2025 Data Center Power Report, highlighting a significant shift towards onsite power generation for data centers. The report suggests that by 2030, around 27% of data center facilities will be fully powered by onsite generation, up from just 1% last year. This shift is largely driven by grid power constraints, which are becoming a major hurdle for the growing AI industry.
In major U.S. markets, data center developers face a 1-2 year wait for grid power access, much longer than their initial estimates. This delay is pushing developers to prioritize onsite power solutions, with 84% ranking power availability as one of their top three considerations when selecting a location for new facilities.
The report also forecasts a surge in data center size, with the median size expected to grow by nearly 115%, reaching around 375 MW over the next decade. This expansion is fueled by the increasing power demands of AI applications, necessitating solutions that can deliver reliable, scalable, and low-emission power.
Aman Joshi, Chief Commercial Officer at Bloom Energy, emphasized the growing importance of onsite power, stating, "The grid can't keep pace with AI demands, so the industry is taking control with onsite power generation. When you control your power, you control your timeline, and immediate access to energy is what separates viable projects from stalled ones."
The insights were gathered from a survey conducted between April 2024 and April 2025, involving approximately 100 decision-makers in the data center power ecosystem. This includes perspectives from hyperscalers, colocation developers, utilities, and GPU service providers, providing a comprehensive view of the current and future landscape of data center power generation.
