Moody's: Datacenters Could Consume 17% of Dutch and 30% of Irish Electricity by 2035

Datacenter power demand set to surge

Datacenters currently account for a low single-digit share of electricity in most of Europe's largest markets, typically about 2.5 percent in 2025, according to credit rating agency Moody's. That is set to change substantially by 2035.

Moody's estimates datacenters will account for at least 5.7 percent of electricity demand in France and the UK by 2035, but the share could climb as high as 17 percent in the Netherlands and 30 percent in Ireland. Ireland is already an outlier: datacenters made up 23 percent of the country's electricity consumption in 2025, up from just 5 percent in 2015.

Grid operators face financial pressure

The growth in facilities requires utilities and network operators to invest in generation capacity and grid expansion. Moody's warns this has the potential to pressure grid operators' balance sheets in the short term, compounded by the lag in recovering higher capital spending under many European regulatory regimes.

The pressure is more pronounced for transmission networks than distribution networks, because datacenter operators are required to fund only the cost of their connection to the grid. Moody's highlights some novel approaches adopted by utilities, such as repurposing old fossil-fuel plant sites for server farm projects because of their existing grid connections, as is said to be the case with at least one of the UK government's AI Growth Zones, and partnering with developers to build new facilities and supply them with power.

Governments weigh intervention

Higher grid costs and supply-demand imbalances are set to push energy prices up, and Moody's notes this has historically prompted political measures to limit the financial burden borne by customers. Some governments are already considering tax cuts and additional subsidies for end users, while a growing number of transmission networks are demanding financial guarantees to screen out speculative or duplicative projects. The UK government is also mulling over this measure.

Looking ahead, intervention could become more intrusive through measures such as electricity price caps, additional taxes or levies. In Ireland, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities has replaced a moratorium on new datacenter grid connections with a framework under which operators applying for a connection rated at 10 MVA or more must provide matching power generation or storage capacity on-site or nearby, and meet at least 80 percent of their annual electricity demand through additional renewable projects in Ireland.

In the US, President Trump introduced a Ratepayer Protection Pledge to defuse voter unhappiness at datacenters and their effect on energy bills. The pledge now covers utility companies, datacenter developers and state governments, with a promise that citizens' bills will not rise to pay for the extra energy and grid infrastructure required.

Moody's expects more European governments to follow the US and Ireland in intervening over datacenter power demand if expansion continues on its current trajectory.

Sources: Theregister