Full Title: Powering Intelligence: Analyzing Artificial Intelligence and Data Center Energy Consumption
Author(s): EPRI
Publisher(s): EPRI
Publication Date: May 28, 2024
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):
Data center operation is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. The International Energy Agency recently projected that global data center electricity demand will more than double by 2026. In the United States, the national outlook could resemble the global outlook, but is highly uncertain.
One key uncertainty that could change the trajectory of data center load growth is the use of generative AI models. Both public and corporate imaginations were triggered by the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT on November 30, 2022. Evidence about how widely these tools will be used and how much they will change computational needs is just starting to emerge. These early applications were estimated to require about ten times the electricity—from 0.3 watt-hours for a traditional Google search to 2.9 watt-hours for a Chat- GPT query—to respond to user queries. Creation of original music, photos, and videos based upon user prompts and other emerging AI applications could require much more power. With 5.3 billion global internet users, widespread adoption of these tools could potentially lead to a step change in power requirements. On the other hand, history has shown that demand for increased processing has largely been offset by data center efficiency gains.
EPRI highlights three essential strategies to support rapid data center expansion:
1. Data center efficiency improvements and increased flexibility.
2. Close coordination between data center developers and electric companies regarding data center power needs, timing, and flexibility, as well as electric supplies and delivery constraints.
3. Better modeling tools to plan the 5–10+ year grid investments needed to anticipate and accommodate data center growth without negatively impacting other customers and to identify strategies for maintaining grid reliability with these large, novel demands.