AI data center construction is in full swing. How can the power supply system meet the challenges?

2026-04-07 00:21:25

Abstract generation in progress

【Caixin Global】 Starting in 2025, AI data centers (AIDC) both at home and abroad are booming, and their high energy-consumption needs will bring new challenges to the power supply system.

On April 2, at the 14th International Energy Storage Summit and Exhibition, Guo Zheng, deputy director of the Energy Products Department of the Intelligent Computing Energy Business Center at China Mobile Energy Technology (Beijing) Co., Ltd., said that the high energy-consumption needs of AI data centers pose three new challenges to the power supply system: high power, high fluctuation, and high capacity.

As the power consumption of GPU (graphics processing unit) chips continues to rise, the power of a single server rack keeps increasing, which will put pressure on both the distribution capacity and the cooling system. Guo Zheng noted that the power density of domestic servers is moving from 40 kilowatts per single rack toward the megawatt level, and is expected to expand to 250 kilowatts in 2028. Once the power of a single server rack exceeds this level, the supply capability of existing uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems will face a bottleneck—not only will it be unable to meet high-power demands, but the increased transmission current on the lines will also cause losses to rise significantly, with the additional loss potentially around 60%.

View Original

This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.

1 Likes