Data centres used for AI model training and deployment require enormous amounts of energy for processing and cooling. Energy consultancy Cleanview has already identified 46 data centres that plan to build their own power plants, primarily with gas-fired generation. Their combined 56 GW of capacity represents around 30% of all planned US data-centre capacity, the consultancy said. One of the country's other major power networks, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), also risks being overwhelmed by surging ‌data-centre demand. The rush to build data centres to support the global AI arms race is set to become a defining economic feature of this decade, if not this century.

Source: Bangkok Post February 26, 2026 23:41 UTC