Recent research studies have raised concerns about the high electricity consumption required—and expected to increase—for data processing centers used by artificial intelligence (AI) applications. This demand is linked to algorithm training, query processing, and server cooling systems.
It is estimated that there are around 7,000 AI-related data centers worldwide, with an annual electricity consumption of approximately 350 TWh, indicating an average annual consumption of about 50 GWh per data center. Other studies suggest that by 2030, the number of such centers will increase by 165% compared to 2023, representing an average annual growth rate of 15%.
In Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), there are currently 455 AI data centers. Based on the global average energy consumption per center, in 2023, AI-related electricity use accounted for 1.6% of the region’s total electricity consumption. Taking into account the projected growth in both total electricity consumption in LAC and the expected increase in the number of AI data centers by 2035, this technology is projected to demand 5% of the region’s electricity consumption by that year—equivalent to just over 120 TWh.
