Overview
- Modern AI facilities are scaling to roughly 100 megawatts at about $50 million per megawatt, pushing shifts to higher‑voltage DC power and liquid or immersion cooling, according to BofA analyst Andrew Obin.
- Specialized electrical and thermal systems are becoming mission‑critical, with suppliers such as Eaton, Schneider Electric, and Vertiv for power gear and SPX Technologies, Daikin, Trane, and Johnson Controls for cooling seeing rising demand.
- Generator makers including Caterpillar, Rolls‑Royce, and Cummins are benefiting as operators add robust backup power for larger, denser sites.
- Reports note data center electricity use is climbing sharply, with a World Economic Forum projection of a doubling from 2024 to 2027 and U.S. consumption rising after a decade of stagnation.
- Proponents highlight annealing quantum computing as a targeted mitigation path, citing a Science‑described result from D‑Wave, grid pilots at GE Vernova and E.ON, integration efforts at Germany’s Jülich center, and quantum‑hybrid workflows in industry.