Government plans 26 GW of power consumption from data centers by FY32

New Delhi: Data centers are projected to consume 26.3 gigawatts of power by 2031-2032, Union Minister of State for Power Shripad Yesso Naik said in the Rajya Sabha on Monday in a written reply on Monday.

He said demand from data centers will be met by renewable energy.

So far, India’s peak demand has reached 270.8 GW. It is expected to reach 272 GW this year and 300 GW in the next fiscal year.

“By 2031-32, an additional 26.3 GW of load is projected from artificial intelligence (AI) data centers expected to be grid-integrated and primarily served by renewable energy capacity,” he said.

The Minister further stated that the development of the transmission infrastructure is taking place gradually, in proportion to the growing demand for electricity and the planned increase in production capacity, including renewable energy.

He said that the National Electricity Plan envisages the development of the transmission system with an estimated investment of approx ₹9.16 trillion by FY32.

“Grid modernization measures, including the deployment of static synchronous compensator (STATCOM), battery energy storage systems (BESS), synchronous capacitors and other advanced grid support technologies are also planned to increase grid reliability, flexibility and facilitate the integration of renewable energy,” he said.

Power problem

Mint had earlier reported that India’s power sector planning body, the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), had gone back to the drawing board to map electricity demand amid concerns that the concentration of data centers in several states could distort consumption and adversely affect the stability of the national grid.

The CEA will also require states and utility companies to incorporate projections of data center energy demand into their resource adequacy plans.

The Department of Energy also informed a parliamentary panel that the increase in electricity demand, driven by the rapid growth of AI and other large-scale data centers, as well as emerging loads, is being assessed as part of the 21st Electricity Research Exercise.

The increase in demand will be reflected in the National Electricity Plan for FY28 to FY37, which is expected to be released by March 2027, the ministry said.

Union Power Minister Manohar Lal recently said the country’s peak power demand may touch a new high of 300 GW next year and asked power companies to brace for record demand.