Will the majority (over 50%) of new data center power capacity installed in the US and EU in 2028 be supplied by renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro)?

Data Center Green Power: Over 50% Renewable Capacity by 2028

Cloud computing and AI infrastructure are massive consumers of electricity. The industry faces intense public and corporate pressure to decarbonize. This prediction states that the majority (over 50%) of all new data center power capacity installed in the United States and the European Union in the year 2028 will be supplied directly by newly contracted renewable energy sources (solar, wind, or hydro).

The PPA and Decarbonization Push

Achieving this milestone relies on the continued success of Corporate Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). Major cloud providers (AWS, Google, Microsoft) are already the largest corporate buyers of renewable energy globally. The increasing demand for low-carbon compute from customers, coupled with the decreasing cost of utility-scale solar and wind, makes building new data centers with a direct line to renewable power the most economically and politically sound option.

The 2028 timeframe allows for the long-lead time required to plan, permit, and construct both the new data center capacity and the necessary accompanying renewable energy projects (wind farms and solar arrays). This shift indicates that renewable energy is not just a preference, but the economic and infrastructure baseline for new data center construction in developed markets.