To accommodate the new realities of the modern world where the role of AI grows exponentially, there is a data center construction boom going on currently in the US.
The US-regions known for accommodation of data centers have increased by 70%, reaching a record 3.87 GW. Meanwhile, there are 463 MW of new data center capacities being built in Austin and San-Antonio in Texas, which is more than four times higher than last year's figures.
The lack of necessary power supply is the only factor that hampers the growth of data centers. However, only 20% of the new capacities will be accessible to ordinary users, while 80% are already reserved by hyperscalers, cloud providers and data center operators leasing AI accelerators.
The lack of new data centers also leads to growing prices, although not so dramatically as last year, with a 7% increase in the first quarter of 2024, reaching $174/kW per month.
Data center rental also continues to grow, in particular due to growing costs of construction, equipment, as well as the use of more resource-intensive AI-accelerators.
According to CBRE, the capacity of data centers on key markets increased by 10% in the first half of 2024, while in last year there was a 1.1 GW of marches launched.
The availability of capacities remains limited, with only 2.8% of resources free in the specified regions. In less popular regions such as Minneapolis, Houston or Denver there are, however, 10% of free capacities.
There is also a shortage of transformers, switches and generators that is likely to continue for the next four years.
According to CBRE, the construction costs of new data centers will only increase, due to increasing costs of power supply and equipment. Nevertheless, older data centers that are not suitable for AI-accelerators, may become on the contrary more affordable for ordinary users.
