January 22, 2025 - Pacific Telecom Conference, Honolulu, HI
by Jake Ring, PDM Co-founder and President
Data center demand
Okay, the biggest takeaway I have from PTC this year is a reinforcement of the large amount of data center demand coming from the market. There is an October 2024 McKinley report that suggests global demand for data center capacity could grow at an annual rate of 19-22% from 2023-2030 in order to reach estimated demand of about 200 gigawatts (GW). That’s 3X the current demand of 60GW.
Private equity is chasing opportunity
Not only the interest from the builders wanting to expand fast, but also there is so much private equity funding looking for opportunities. Many sources of investment are coming in to fund data center development and reap potential rewards. It definitely feels likes a modern day gold rush.
Product, product, and more product
The amount of transformers, circuit breakers and other equipment operators and developers will need to deliver on all that capacity demand is crazy to imagine. And, if suppliers can’t get up to speed and cut lead times, a (more) serious supply deficit could be just around the corner.
Mahalo
