Key facts
- Data center buildouts in India are expected to significantly increase clean energy demand.
- Renewable energy providers anticipate demand will exceed supply.
- India plans to introduce a policy for data centers to protect consumers from higher energy bills.
- Meta Platforms will buy 100% of the environmental attributes from a renewable energy partnership with CleanMax.
Massive data center buildouts planned in India are expected to significantly boost demand for clean energy, with providers anticipating that demand will outstrip supply. Junior IT minister Jitin Prasada indicated that India plans to introduce a policy for data centers to shield consumers from increased energy costs, following protests in Mumbai concerning proposed billion-dollar data centers by Amazon and Google.
According to a report by Anand Rathi Research, the renewable energy capacity required to power India's data centers is projected to double from 16.1 gigawatts (GW) this year to as much as 32.4 GW by 2030. Major renewable energy provider CleanMax Enviro Energy Solutions Ltd. estimates that just five gigawatts of data center capacity would necessitate 30-40 GW of renewable power.
Hyperscalers are seeking to secure long-term power supplies, increasingly looking into 15-20-year power purchase agreements (PPAs) or renewable energy partnerships. CleanMax and Meta Platforms recently announced a partnership where CleanMax will develop 837 MW of solar and wind capacity, with Meta purchasing 100% of the environmental attributes. BloombergNEF projects India's data center power demand could surge from 11 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025 to 636 TWh by 2050, potentially accounting for 11% of the country's total electricity consumption.