Information technology (IT) and power generation have been on a collision course, with artificial intelligence (AI) and data centers driving power demands far beyond current capacity. During Data Center World Conference 2025, speakers discussed the need for more power and the options that are being explored.
“Every new data center we build gets bigger and requires many more megawatts,” said Ana Marie Ordonez, principal solutions architect at Equinix, one of the world’s largest providers of data centers. “The expectation should be that you will need a lot more power, so build big and build bold.”
Natural Gas For The AI Data Center
US data centers currently consume about 176 terawatt hours (THw) per year of power or 20 GW of capacity. That represents 4.4% of US electricity consumption. Over the next three years, those numbers are in for a major revision. Electricity consumption by data centers will soar to levels between 325 and 580 TWh per year or 37 GW to 66 MW, representing 6.7% to 12% of total US electricity, said Dave Bell, vice president of data center and microgrid development at VoltaGrid, during his keynote address at Data Center World 2025.
VoltaGrid offers virtual pipelines for compressed natural gas (CNG). If natural gas is not available at or near a site, a virtual pipeline ensures power supply, overcoming geographic limitations. The company has CNG stations in Midland and Orla, Texas; Tucson, Arizona, and Keenesburg, Colorado.
An electric trailer-mounted fuel delivery system allows for CNG, liquefied natural gas (LNG), hydrogen, and fi eld gas to be utilized to supply fuel to a remote site. A 2.5-MWe natural gas reciprocating generator can reach its rated load in 32.5 seconds. Its gas conditioning system lowers the carbon intensity of fuel to the generator’s optimal heating value, thereby reducing emissions.
In addition, VoltaGrid offers electric trailer-mounted mobile refrigeration units (MRUs) with inlet capacities of up to 5 MMscf/d (141,584 m3/d), multiple turndown features, and a range of inlet pressures. An electric trailer mounted booster compressor is designed to allow low pressure fi eld gas to be processed seamlessly through the MRU. Additionally, a hydrogen sulfide (H2S) scavenging unit removes low concentrations of H2S from saturated natural gas.
Bell advocated natural gas as the best option for the large-scale data centers currently being developed. These huge AI factories require enormous amounts of power. He made his point by showing that natural gas accounts for almost half of all electricity generated in the US compared to 4% for solar and 10% for wind. Data centers consume 2.29 bcf/d of natural gas to produce about 90 TWh of electricity. That number is expected to rise to about 225 TWh by 2030. “Between 2024 and 2030, natural gas consumption by data centers will rise by almost three times,” said Bell. “By then, data centers will be using up 4.5% of US gas consumption for electricity generation.”
He recommended those seeking power for large AI data centers to look at territories such as West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virgina, Texas, and Oklahoma where gas is plentiful. “Get close to fuel supply and existing natural gas basins. The closer you are to the supply, the more fluidity you have and the faster you can obtain the fuel you need,” said Bell.
Another keynote address was delivered by Kevin O’Leary (aka Mr. Wonderful) from ABC’s Shark Tank. O’Leary believes that data centers are today’s gold rush. Accordingly, he is building the world’s largest … Click Here to continue reading the article in the June issue of Gas Compression Magazine.
