Data centres: Relationships

Every element and industry that Data centres is linked to, and how. Each pair has its own card explaining the relationships between the two.

• Transformers and power electronics: Every data centre sits behind a chain of transformers, switchgear, uninterruptible power supplies and converters, so its build-out competes with utilities for the same scarce equipment. US power transformer supply fell about 30% short of demand in 2025, with lead times of up to four years, and AI racks are now pushing a shift to 800 V DC power distribution. (researched)
• AI and digital platforms: AI models are trained and served in data centres, so AI spending turns directly into electricity demand: data centre use grew 17% in 2025 and the IEA expects it to double by 2030, with grid connections and power equipment now the binding constraint. (researched)
• Heat pumps, air conditioning and refrigeration: Almost every watt a server draws becomes heat, so cooling machinery (chillers, compressors and air handlers) uses a large share of a data centre's power: 30 to 55% of energy by some estimates. As data centre demand heads towards about 945 TWh by 2030, cooling efficiency and the reuse of waste heat through heat pumps become central to both industries. (researched)
• Semiconductors: Data centres now bring in about nine-tenths of the leading AI chip designer's revenue and over half of the leading foundry's, and each new generation of AI accelerator packs more power into a rack, so chip roadmaps set data centre power and cooling needs while chip designers themselves rely on large compute farms. (researched)
• Combined heat and power: Energy flows from combined heat and power to data centres.
• Computers and electronics: Computers and electronics depends on data centres.
• Data centres and cloud: Data centres and cloud depends on data centres.
• E-commerce and digital marketplaces: E-commerce and digital marketplaces depends on data centres.
• Education and research: Education and research depends on data centres.
• Electrical loss reduction: Energy flows from data centres to electrical loss reduction.
• Electronic specialty gases: Their prices have moved together.
• Embodied energy trade: Energy flows from embodied energy trade to data centres.
• Energy in buildings: Their prices have moved together.
• Energy-intensive industry: Their prices have moved together.
• Finance: banking, insurance, markets: Finance: banking, insurance, markets depends on data centres.
• Fuel cells: Energy flows from fuel cells to data centres.
• Healthcare services: Healthcare services depends on data centres.
• Hospitality and tourism: Hospitality and tourism depends on data centres.
• Industrial heat pumps and vapour recompression: Energy flows from data centres to industrial heat pumps and vapour recompression.
• Latent heat and cold storage: Energy flows from latent heat and cold storage to data centres.
• Lead-acid batteries: Energy flows from lead-acid batteries to data centres.
• Machinery and equipment: Machinery and equipment depends on data centres.
• Media and entertainment: Media and entertainment depends on data centres.
• Natural gas: Their prices have moved together.
• Nuclear fission reactors: Their prices have moved together.
• Pharmaceuticals: Pharmaceuticals depends on data centres.
• Professional services: Professional services depends on data centres.
• Public administration, defence and security: Public administration, defence and security depends on data centres.
• Shared and district heat reuse: Energy flows from data centres to shared and district heat reuse.
• Software and IT services: Software and IT services depends on data centres.
• Telecommunications: Telecommunications depends on data centres.
• Transport and logistics: Transport and logistics depends on data centres.
• Wholesale and retail trade: Wholesale and retail trade depends on data centres.