Every time you stream a film, store a photo in the cloud or ask Copilot a question, a chain of events kicks off behind the scenes. Not in some abstract digital space, but inside real buildings filled with thousands of servers, cooling systems and power infrastructure. These buildings are data centres, and they are among the fastest-growing energy consumers in the world.
As our reliance on artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud services grows, so does the demand for data centres. The question isn’t if data centres will expand, but how that expansion can happen responsibly and sustainably.
Europe is catching up
Growth of AI and data centers is set to fundamentally change the energy landscape. The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts that electricity demand from data centers worldwide is set to more than double by 2030 to around 945 terawatt-hours (TWh), slightly more than the entire electricity consumption of Japan today. In certain countries, the effect will be especially pronounced such as the US where they are on course to account for almost half of the growth in electricity demand and Data Centers are expected to contribute 10% of total energy consumption.
Most new capacity is being added in the US and China, while Europe is investing in large-scale data centres in Frankfurt, Paris and London, as well as emerging locations like Milan, Madrid and Helsinki.
Together, these emerging European hubs are expected to add around 20 gigawatts of data centre capacity in the coming years. To put that into perspective, 20 GW is enough to power roughly 15 million average households for a year, based on standard household electricity consumption.
ING’s role
We’ve supported over 200 data centre deals globally. Now, as operators face growing pressure to cut emissions, we’re linking more financing to climate performance and transition targets, helping operators move toward lower emissions.
The energy challenge
Data centres run on electricity, and lots of it! Some projections suggest their global power consumption could increase by more than 150% by 2030.
Today, around 45% of global data centre power demand is in the US, followed by China at 25% and Europe at 15%. As Europe expands its capacity, its share of demand will rise significantly.
For operators, energy is now a core strategic issue. They need power that is accessible, reliable, affordable and increasingly aligned with climate ambitions. This is also where banks like ING come in, helping to structure and finance solutions that support this shift.
Sustainable data centres
Decarbonisation is complex, especially as climate policies differ across regions. Still, many operators are actively shifting towards renewable energy, particularly solar, thanks to its falling costs and scalability. In regions like the Middle East, solar farms are being built alongside new data centres, sometimes with dedicated grid infrastructure.
Energy efficiency is also improving. Technologies such as photonic chips reduce the energy needed per unit of computing power. At scale, mega data centres can even support grid stability by adjusting their energy use based on renewable availability.
Financing the transition
Sustainability is now built into many recent data centre financings. In Asia, ING supported AirTrunk with a $2.24bn sustainability-linked financing. In Europe, we supported Mainova WebHouse GmbH to develop sustainable data centres in Germany.
More sustainability-linked data centre financing is already in the works: How data centres are powering growth and the energy transformation.
ING & climate
Society is transitioning to a low-carbon economy. So are our clients, and so is ING. We finance a lot of sustainable activities, but we still finance more that’s not. See how we’re progressing on our climate approach.
This message discusses one or more specific transactions and/or contains general statements about ING’s climate approach. The approach and criteria referred to in this message are intended to be applied in accordance with applicable law. Due to the fact that there may be different or even conflicting laws, the approach, criteria or the application thereof, could be different.