AIDC Era: Is Energy Storage Still Just a "Supporting Role"?

For years, energy storage has been viewed as a "supporting player" in the clean energy transition, tasked with balancing the intermittency of solar and wind power and providing grid services like peak shaving and frequency regulation.

Now, explosive global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) is fundamentally transforming that role.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global data center electricity consumption reached 415 TWh in 2024, accounting for 1.5% of total global demand.

By 2030, power demand from AI data centers alone is projected to increase global electricity consumption by 175% compared to 2023 levels. Data centers as a whole could represent up to 10% of the world's total electricity use. (Source: Goldman Sachs report, Powering the AI Era)

Unlike traditional data centers, AI Data Centers (AIDCs) are specialized "computing factories" built for intensive, non-stop AI workloads. This high-density computing creates massive power consumption and demands an unprecedented level of continuous, stable electricity supply. Even brief power interruptions can lead to data loss, disrupted computations, and severe financial losses, making stable power the core operational requirement for AIDCs.

Consequently, energy storage is shifting from being a "backup power" option to a "mission-critical" component. It is no longer just an auxiliary system but a foundational pillar guaranteeing the continuous and stable operation of AIDCs.

This surge in AIDC development is creating unprecedented growth for the energy storage market. Industry forecasts project that global energy storage capacity for data centers will skyrocket from 16.5 GWh in 2024 to 209.4 GWh by 2030. By the end of the decade, AIDC-related storage is expected to drive approximately 20% of total global energy storage demand.

From a regional perspective, the U.S. is projected to lead this market, capturing a 40% share by 2030, followed by China with 30%. The combined market size in these two regions is expected to exceed 150 billion CNY. Significant growth is also anticipated in Europe, fueled by data center expansion in markets like the UK and Germany.

This trend injects new momentum and potential into the energy storage industry. As the global AIDC market continues its rapid expansion, energy storage is poised to become a core force powering both the global digital economy and the broader energy transition.