A very grey and ironically chilly Canary Wharf hosted the 2026 Data Centre World Exhibition at the ExCel London, with two very clear themes that ran throughout the show: you’re going to need a lot more capacity to run all your new AI, and we’re going to have to somehow keep that all that new capacity cool. But at what cost?
An early keynote by Matthew Baynes (Vice President Secure Power UK&I) of Schneider Electric, on the main DCW world stage highlighted some rather stark insights as to where the sector is headed. With an expectation that the current data centre install base will double by 2030 taking data centre energy consumption from >3% to an estimated 5% of the National Grids resources, there is no doubt as to the scale of the challenge that lies ahead in making our sector sustainable. With 1 MW racks on the rapidly approaching horizon each with a comparable thirst for electricity as 200 conventional domestic ovens this is very much an immediate issue.
Understanding the problem you are facing is always the first step, so whilst the above is in many ways rather daunting, it is encouraging that global organisations like Schneider are starting to understand what the roadmap looks like. Dense, hot and steady was the overarching message, so whilst the demand is there and the demand is going to facilitated, we need to be proactive and pragmatic about designing the next generation architecture.
Very aptly up next on the same stage was Helen Munro (Head of Environment & Sustainability) representing Pulsant with a very clear message: compartmentalising sustainability is damaging. This cannot be looked at anymore as a separate or optional issue for those designing and building the data centre. This gets even more relevant when you consider we are not just energy limited morally; we are going to be physically energy starved in the not too distant future at the expected growth rate. The grid simply will not be able to meet our growing demand, energy constraints are becoming structural, and it has never been more of design limitation than it is now. The silver lining from a sustainability standpoint (at least kind of…), is that as AI demand is outpacing legacy infrastructure, forcing rapid innovation in capacity, density and cooling we have no excuse not to get this right. Every cloud and all that?
Outside of the keynotes some of the technology on show from exhibitors was truly fascinating, and gives you hope we may just design our way out of this. With a huge emphasis on data centre cooling, and especially liquid cooling it was very clear the industry only has one thing on its mind, and with the inevitable appetite to provide capacity it is only a positive thing if we are working just has hard in parallel to keep that capacity ticking over as efficiently as possible. It further reaffirms that fixing this really starts at the earliest design phase, it simply does not work as an afterthought. A genuine opportunity from this almost unprecedented thirst for more… well everything is that it gives us a chance to ensure the next generation infrastructure is designed and built with sustainability and efficiency as a priority.
