Stuart Thompson, President, ABB Electrification Service, argues that solely a swift, good overhaul of ageing electrical infrastructure can protect AI‑hungry amenities from crippling downtime and hovering prices.
In an more and more digital-first world, information centres at the moment are the spine of recent society. Whether or not it’s powering AI innovation, driving international commerce, or conserving important companies working, these silent, but highly effective engines underpin the connectivity and compute capability that trendy life depends upon.
But, as digital demand accelerates, so too does the pressure on the infrastructure supporting it.
By the top of this decade, information centres within the US alone are projected to eat almost 12% of the nation’s complete electrical energy, up from simply 3.7% in 2024, in line with McKinsey. On a world scale, the numbers are much more putting. In accordance with the Worldwide Vitality Company (IEA), information centres used roughly 460 TWh of electrical energy in 2022 – a determine set to greater than double to over 1,000 TWh by subsequent yr, roughly equal to Japan’s complete annual electrical energy consumption.
These numbers sign extra than simply development – they expose structural vulnerabilities in how information centres have been designed and maintained.
The problem is not merely tips on how to construct extra capability. It’s tips on how to modernise current infrastructure to make sure resilience, reliability, and sustainability in an more and more risky, AI-fuelled panorama. That is why modernising electrical infrastructure is not non-compulsory – it’s a business-critical crucial that secures one’s licence to function, mitigates monetary danger, and ensures long-term competitiveness.
Progress with out technique?
The information centre growth of current years has been pushed by a race to capitalise on cloud and AI development. However within the rush to scale, strategic infrastructure planning hasn’t all the time saved tempo. Many new amenities have been constructed for pace, not longevity, leading to underutilised capability and demanding gaps in operational resilience.
Including to that is the evolving nature of AI itself. Early infrastructure was designed for large-scale mannequin coaching, however the emergence of real-time, reasoning-based AI fashions is altering how information centres should function. The shift towards low-latency, high-resilience processing is forcing operators to rewire and rethink their electrical techniques – not tomorrow, however as we speak.
Why delayed upkeep comes at a steep value
Whereas the highlight is commonly on greenfield enlargement, a much less seen however equally urgent problem is hiding in plain sight: ageing, outdated electrical infrastructure. Many information centres proceed to depend on techniques put in a long time in the past, designed for a distinct period and vastly completely different calls for. Our analysis has proven that ready for gear to fail can value as much as 10 occasions greater than implementing proactive upkeep, whereas exposing operators to pointless security and sustainability dangers.
The price of failure can also be rising. A single unplanned outage may end up in thousands and thousands of {dollars} in misplaced income, penalties, and reputational injury. In accordance with Uptime Intelligence’s 2024 Annual Outage Evaluation, common prices of unplanned information centre outage can nonetheless run into thousands and thousands of {dollars} per incident. Extra importantly, disruptions erode belief, set off monetary penalties, and might have cascading impacts on digital ecosystems that thousands and thousands of individuals depend on.
That is why modernising electrical infrastructure is not non-compulsory. For information centre operators, the query is not if they will afford to spend money on electrical modernisation – however whether or not they can afford to not.
Slashing upkeep time with good monitoring
The answer lies not solely in constructing new capability however in making current infrastructure smarter, safer, and extra sustainable. Throughout the trade, we’re seeing a serious shift – from reactive to predictive upkeep, which leverages real-time monitoring and superior analytics to anticipate gear failures earlier than they happen. This reduces unplanned downtime, optimises operational effectivity, and extends asset lifecycles. To maintain tempo with demand, information centres should be on the forefront of this transformation. By adopting a predictive asset administration technique, operators can cut back upkeep time and frequency by as much as 30% and decrease operational expenditure by as much as 40% in comparison with conventional time-based upkeep.
Equally necessary is the position of digital retrofitting – upgrading current techniques with good, related applied sciences moderately than resorting to expensive, full-scale replacements. By embedding real-time monitoring and analytics into ageing infrastructure, operators can acquire on the spot visibility into gear well being, obtain early warnings of potential failures, and take motion earlier than downtime happens. This method not solely extends asset life by as much as 20–30 years but additionally reduces emissions and delivers vital CapEx financial savings, all whereas unlocking new efficiencies from infrastructure that’s already in place. Actually, via retrofits, operators can expertise 80% much less downtime in comparison with full replacements.
In the end, by modernising moderately than changing, information centre operators can transfer away from the outdated ‘take-make-dispose’ mindset and embrace a extra round, sustainable method to asset administration.
Enabling the renewable vitality shift
The fast enlargement of information centres has additionally highlighted a troubling sustainability paradox: the very infrastructure driving digital innovation is placing unprecedented stress on international vitality consumption and local weather targets.
Nevertheless, this problem presents a singular alternative. As renewable vitality turns into more and more inexpensive, information centre operators have a chance to rethink their total vitality technique. Many main gamers – from hyperscalers to colocation suppliers — are already investing closely in photo voltaic, wind, and different clear vitality sources to decarbonise their operations. For instance, Meta has signed large-scale photo voltaic offers to safe renewable vitality at predictable prices, insulating itself from value volatility and strengthening vitality safety.
But renewables include their very own complexity – specifically, intermittency dangers. With out trendy, digitally related infrastructure and superior vitality administration techniques, information centres danger compromising uptime and effectivity. That’s why modernising electrical infrastructure — paired with good vitality administration techniques and superior digital instruments – is essential to unlocking the complete potential of unpolluted vitality with out sacrificing reliability.
A name for strategic re-evaluation
The information centre sector stands at a vital inflection level, and its total stakeholder ecosystem should reassess its methods. The present panorama illustrates that fast development with out cautious planning can and does usually result in wasted assets and failed tasks.
Operators can not afford to focus solely on constructing new capability with out optimising what they have already got. Strategic re-evaluation of current belongings is essential to make sure long-term viability. Which means investing in predictive upkeep, upgrading ageing gear via digital retrofits, and embedding sustainability and resilience into each infrastructure resolution.
The way forward for digital infrastructure won’t be outlined by how briskly we are able to develop – it will likely be outlined by how nicely we handle, keep, and future-proof the techniques we already depend on. Those that act now to strengthen the spine of their operations won’t solely keep away from pointless danger however will safe a decisive benefit in an more and more aggressive digital financial system.
