AI’s energy appetite could stress power grids, Bain warns

Johannesburg, Oct. 8, 2025, ENN: Scaling up AI over the next decade will require up to $2 trillion in new revenue and could consume an additional 200 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, roughly the output of 200 large power plants, according to Bain & Company’s 6th Annual Global Technology Report.

The consultancy warns that while AI can help drive efficiency across industries, the race to build bigger data centres and high-performance computing clusters will put unprecedented pressure on already strained electricity networks. ‘Even factoring in expected efficiency gains, the market faces a funding shortfall of about $800 billion,’ the report says.

Power grids in the spotlight

AI’s hunger for compute power is already shaping the energy landscape. Data centres are among the fastest-growing sources of electricity demand worldwide, with new facilities planned from North America and Europe to the Middle East and Asia. Bain’s analysts note that securing stable power supplies will become a central challenge for technology companies, utilities, and policymakers.

In regions where electricity systems are fragile, including parts of Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, the challenge could be more acute. Countries such as Nigeria and South Africa, where load shedding is already a daily reality, will face hard questions about how to balance growing digital ambitions with limited generation and transmission capacity.

Infrastructure and supply chain hurdles

Beyond power, Bain’s report highlights bottlenecks in transmission infrastructure, semiconductor supply chains, and cooling technologies. ‘Scaling AI will not be a purely technological journey,’ the authors argue. ‘It is deeply tied to energy, climate, and industrial policy.’ The consultancy suggests that companies and governments may need to explore alternative financing models, green energy partnerships, and cross-border power trading to close the revenue and capacity gaps.

A global race with local consequences

While the report, published at the end of September, is global in scope, its implications reach Africa directly. As the continent pushes to expand broadband access, cloud services, and data sovereignty, the question of powering new digital infrastructure will become critical. But African governments and investors may find opportunities in renewable energy, solar, hydro, wind, and geothermal, which could make data centres more sustainable while reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

‘AI will reshape industries, but it will also reshape power markets,’ Bain concludes. ‘The winners will be those who can scale intelligently, balancing innovation with energy resilience.’