The Data Centre Boom: Powering Digital Growth and the Wire & Cable Industry

From the rise of artificial intelligence to the relentless expansion of cloud computing, data centres have become the critical infrastructure of the modern digital economy. Every command, click, and stream flows through these high-density, high-demand hubs, silent giants consuming vast amounts of energy and connectivity.

As global tech leaders and governments race to expand digital capacity, data centres are rapidly becoming one of the most powerful growth engines for the wire and cable industry.

At the IWMA Industry Lunch in June, CRU Senior Analyst Vishnu Patidar identified data centres as a defining driver for future metallic cable demand. According to CRU, cabling demand for data centres will nearly triple: from 264.8 kilotonnes (kt) in 2024 to 727 kt by 2029.

What is a Data Centre and Why Are We Building So Many?

A data centre is a highly specialised facility designed to store, process and distribute digital data. These buildings house servers, storage systems, networking equipment, backup power, and climate control infrastructure. They support everything from online banking and streaming to industrial automation and cloud storage.

And the world needs more of them – fast. According to IDC, global data creation will exceed 180 zettabytes by 2025. McKinsey projects nearly $7 trillion in digital infrastructure investment by 2030 -$5.2 trillion of which is expected to support AI-ready systems, including data centres, cloud platforms, and supporting networks.

Even simple actions, like messaging an AI assistant, trigger powerful server-side computation. One extended ChatGPT session can consume up to 1 watt-hour of electricity and 0.5 litres of water, tiny amounts on their own, but significant when scaled across millions of users daily.

These stats are a powerful reminder: data centres are not just digital tools, they are physical infrastructure with a growing environmental and industrial footprint.

Scaling Up: Where the Data Centre Explosion Will Hit Hardest.

At the IWMA Industry Lunch CRU projected global cable demand for data centres to increase almost threefold by 2029, with strong regional activity:

• North America leads with 40% of demand in 2024
• Europe accounts for 20%, with hyperscale growth in Germany, Ireland, France, and the UK
• China (14%) and Asia-Pacific (11%) are rising fast, with India emerging as a key market due to grid and construction growth

According to ABI Research, colocation site numbers are forecast to rise from ~5,200 in 2024 to ~8,400 globally by 2030. Regionally:

• Asia-Pacific: ~2,126 sites
• Europe: ~2,108 sites
• North America: ~1,803 sites

While colocation growth holds steady at 6.6% CAGR, McKinsey reports that AI-specific infrastructure is growing much faster, at 33% CAGR, driving significant pressure on cabling supply chains.

But What About the Environmental Cost?

The digital revolution comes with a serious environmental price tag. In 2022, data centres consumed approximately 340 TWh of electricity – equivalent to the energy use of a medium-sized industrialised country. By 2026, this figure is expected to exceed 1,000 TWh, rivalling the electricity demand of an entire G20 nation.

Today, data centres account for about 1.5% of global electricity use. That figure is forecast to reach 3-4% by 2030, largely driven by AI and cloud applications. Every polite “please” and “thank you” exchanged with ChatGPT and similar AI services incurs small, but measurable, energy use. A typical short conversational session uses about 0.1 Wh to 1 Wh of electricity – equivalent to lighting an LED bulb for a minute or charging a smartphone by a few percent. Multiply that by millions of daily users, and our niceties subtly add up in the wider grid load.

Cooling is another major challenge. AI models require millions of litres of water to cool during training phases. As more data centres are built in water-stressed or power-constrained regions, the risk of ecological and infrastructure strain grows.

However, industry leaders are stepping up. Companies like Google and Equinix now operate on 100% renewable energy, investing in wind and solar projects to reduce their carbon footprint. European data centres are increasingly turning to waste heat recovery, heating homes and public buildings, including the Olympic pool in Paris. Many have committed to carbon-neutral operations by 2030, under initiatives like the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact.

Still, experts caution that renewable sourcing and heat reuse alone won’t be enough. True sustainability will require efficiency breakthroughs, grid upgrades, and broader systemic changes.

Where the Cable Industry Comes In.

As data centres grow in size and complexity, so does their need for cable infrastructure. CRU identified to us the following as key product categories:

• High and medium-voltage power cables – for primary energy delivery
• Low-voltage and internal data cables – enabling intra-rack and server-to-switch connectivity
• Winding wire – found in cooling motors, UPS systems, and transformers
• Bare overhead & Aluminium conductors – especially in developing markets like India, where transmission infrastructure is expanding rapidly

India’s power cable market alone is projected to grow at a 12.1% CAGR for copper and 10.2% for aluminium between 2025 and 2029. In Europe, cable consumption is forecast to grow 3.5% year-on-year in 2025, fuelled by investment in both data centres and renewable power.

Globally, the wire and cable industry will be indispensable in delivering high-efficiency, low-loss power infrastructure for the digital age.

The Renewable Backbone – Offshore Wind, Solar, and Subsea Cables.

To power these data centres cleanly and reliably, the world is turning to renewable energy – which is driving new demand for specialised cabling across wind, solar and grid interconnection projects.

• Offshore wind cable demand in Europe will overtake solar PV by 2028
• Total EU + UK cable demand for renewables will reach 38,577 kt conductor by 2030
• HV and EHV subsea cable demand will exceed land-based volumes before the end of the decade
• From 2023 to 2030, cumulative subsea cable demand for offshore wind is projected at 111,057 conductor-kilometres

These systems connect remote generation sites, offshore turbines, solar farms, and energy storage systems – to urban centres and data hubs, enabling the shift toward greener, decentralised energy.

Conclusion: A Critical Role in a Digital-First World.

The rise of data centres is no passing trend – it’s a structural transformation that’s reshaping how energy, data, and infrastructure connect.

From the cables running deep beneath the ocean to those inside the walls of every new server hall, the wire and cable industry is becoming the unseen foundation of the global digital economy. With AI, electrification, and clean energy all converging, this sector will play a central role not just in enabling digital growth, but in making it sustainable.

As data demand surges and infrastructure scales to meet it, one thing is clear: the future is digital -and it runs on cable.