Driven by rapidly growing AI and cloud usage, the data centre capacity in Asia-Pacific is expected to nearly double from 32GW today to 57GW by 2030, according to real estate and investment management firm JLL.
The enormous amounts of power used by data centres in the region and around the world are reversing the trend of stable or declining electricity demand for the past decade, it revealed yesterday.
Transmission infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with the decentralised growth of new renewable energy sources, it cautioned.
This has resulted in grid congestion in major markets across the United States, Europe and the Asia-Pacific. Many power grids were originally designed around large, centralised power stations.
According to JLL, hyperscalers have announced US$200 billion in capital expenditure for 2026, a growth of 51 per cent from 2025. However, interconnection queues for new renewable projects can stretch to four years or more, with some areas having to pause new connections entirely.
In the US, interconnection reform and merchant power exposure are influencing deal structures. In Europe, regulatory frameworks are developing quickly but unevenly across member states. In Asia-Pacific, data centre construction is exceeding grid planning in several markets.
“We’ve seen a generational shift in power demand as a result of data centres and AI,” said Steven Jack, head of energy and infrastructure advisory for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at JLL. “This was not on the radar until very recently.”
He noted that utilities organisations are expecting power demand to nearly double their previous estimates.
“For any energy developer, without a grid connection, you don’t have a project,” he added. “For investors, this grid congestion translates directly into risk, but it also creates a scarcity premium for assets that provide or secure grid access.”
Amid geopolitical uncertainty, companies are increasingly looking at energy self-generation as a way to improve energy security and reduce power costs, he noted.
In addition, battery energy storage systems are becoming a key solution to ease grid congestion and manage renewable energy intermittency.
Batteries can “act as shock absorbers for constrained grids, charging when power is cheap and abundant, then discharging when demand and price are high,” said Matt Eastwick, group head and senior managing director for energy and infrastructure advisory for the US at JLL.
Grid access challenges are driving closer collaboration between energy developers and data centre operators across major global markets, according to JLL.
To secure power supply, large technology companies are increasingly entering the energy market, such as by acquiring operating renewable assets, it pointed out.
It cited a recent example where a Bitcoin miner in Texas bought an operating wind farm to guarantee reliable power supply.
James Cameron, head of energy and infrastructure for Asia-Pacific at JLL, said that the status and location of grid connection has become a key factor in investment decisions in liberalised markets in Asia-Pacific, such as Australia, India, Japan and the Philippines.
In Australia, he said that expected legislation may require data centre developers to match new capacity with additional renewable power generation.
This is also encouraging new models from joint ventures to the integration of batteries in data centre design to support grid connection, he added.
“While the solution will differ depending on circumstances, it is clear we will see many more partnership opportunities and innovative solutions between data centre and energy clients across the region,” he noted.
