Data centres: consumption that could be multiplied by 3.7 by 2035
Published on 6 January 2026, ADEME's foresight study proposes five scenarios out to 2060.
On 6 January 2026, ADEME published a foresight study on the evolution of data centre consumption in France up to 2060.
The starting point is global: data centres consumed 415 TWh worldwide in 2024, with further growth expected. This infrastructure consumes large amounts of electricity to power and cool servers.
In the business-as-usual scenario, the electricity consumption induced by French usage could grow by a factor of 3.7 by 2035. A notable point: two thirds of this consumption would take place abroad, in countries whose electricity mixes are on average far more carbon-intensive than France's.
The study proposes five contrasting scenarios to anticipate the growth of digital usage, together with a status review and a detailed model.
This finding of offshored impacts is central: a digital sufficiency policy limited to national territory would miss most of the emissions associated with French usage.
For the French power system, the question is twofold: hosting these facilities represents an opportunity to monetise decarbonised electricity, but requires anticipating high-capacity grid connections.