The use of energy in the Google Data Center in 4 years

No wonder Google is desperate for more energy: the company’s data centers are more than twice the use of electricity in only four years.

The statistics that spoil the eye come from Google’s The latest sustainability reportWhich was released late last week. In 2024, Google Data Centers used 30.8 million MW of electricity. This increases from 14.4 million megawatts in 2020, and the oldest year in which Google has separated the data center consumption.

Google has pledged to use carbon -free electricity sources only to operate its operations, a task that made it more challenging by breaking the growth of the data center.

The company’s electricity problems are almost a problem with the data center. In 2024, databases constituted 95.8 % of the entire electron budget.

The ratio of the company from the data center to everything has been significantly consistent over the past four years. Although 2020 is the nearest year in which Google has provided electricity consumption numbers in the data center, it is possible to use this percentage to extrapolate again in time. Some fast mathematics reveal that Google’s data centers are likely to use slightly more than 4 million hours of electricity in 2014. This is seven times growth in a contract only.

The technology company has already chosen most of the low fruits by improving the efficiency of its data centers. These efforts have resulted, and the company is often praised for being at the front edge. But as The effectiveness of using the company’s power (PUE) approached the theoretical ideal of 1.0, the progress has slowed. Last year, PUE decreased at the company level to 1.09, which is 0.01 improvement over 2023 but only 0.02 better than a decade.

It is clear that Google needs more electricity, and to undertake its carbon -free pledge, it was invested extensively in a group of energy sources, including the ground thermal energy, both of them are nuclear flavors, and renewable energy sources.

Ground Energy Offers a promise of data center operations. By taking advantage of the Earth’s heat, improved thermal energy plants can constantly generate electricity regardless of the weather. And many startups, including Google -backed energyDo you allow profit wells in more places?

On the nuclear fusion side, Google announced last week that it would work Invest in Commonwealth of integration systems And the purchase of 200 megawatts of electricity from the upcoming power plant, scheduled to come online in the early thirties. In the nuclear fission world, Google pledged to buy 500 megawatts of electricity From Kairos PowerStarting a small unit reactor.

Nuclear deals have not provided energy yet – and you will not do so for five years or more. Meanwhile, the company was in the field of renewable energy. In May, I bought the company 600 megawatts of solar capacity In South Carolina, and in January, she announced a deal for 700 megawatts of solar energy in Oklahoma. Google said in 2024 that she was working with Power Interest and TPG RISE Climate for construction Many gigawatts value From carbon -free power plants, investing $ 20 billion.

The expenses are not surprising given that Solar and (to a lesser extent) wind are the only sources of power available easily before the end of the contract.

New nuclear power plants take years to allow and build, and even the most optimistic timetables do not see them connected to a network or data center before the end of the contract. Natural gas, which the United States has a lot, is loosened by five -year waiting lists for new turbines. To leave renewable energy sources associated with storing the battery.

Google has contracted with enough renewable energy sources to match its total consumption, although these sources do not always provide electrons when and where the company needs.

“When we announced to the world that we will achieve this 100 % compatible annual goal, we were very clear that it was not the final situation,” Michael Terill, President of Advanced Energy, told reporters last week. “The finish game was a carbon -free energy around the clock around the clock everywhere we work at all times.”

Google has some work to do.

Throughout the world, the company owns about 66 % of its data center consumption, and corresponds to the watch, supported by carbon -free electricity. But those medium papers on some regional challenges. While its Latin American data centers reached 92 % last year, its facilities in the Middle East and Africa are only 5 %.

Terrell said these obstacles are part of the reason for Google’s investment in carbon -free sources such as fission and fusion. “In order to finally reach this goal, we will have to get these technologies,” he said.