Archive · 11 Jan 2026
Thermal Storage Key for AI and Clean Energy Growth
Electricity demand is growing fast because of AI and big data centres.
These need lots of power, but it's not easy to get.
Some places have lots of cheap clean energy, but not when it's needed.
Thermal storage is a new way to save this energy and use it anytime.
It's cheap, quick to build, and can help power data centres and factories around the clock.
This could be a big solution for our energy needs in the future.
Electricity demand is expected to grow by 16% in the US by 2029 due to AI and data centres.
Data centres could consume 5% of US and 8% of European electricity by 2030.
Clean energy is abundant but often available at the wrong times, leading to low power prices and curtailed energy.
Thermal storage uses cheap materials like carbon to store energy as heat, providing round-the-clock power.
Thermal storage is quick to deploy and can be a key solution for meeting the energy demands of AI and industrial growth.
- Who
- Hyperscalers, data centres, manufacturers, and energy providers
- What
- The growing demand for electricity due to AI and industrial growth, and the potential of thermal storage to meet this demand
- When
- By 2029 and 2030
- Where
- United States and Europe
- Why
- To meet the increasing electricity demand from data centres and industrial facilities, and to address the timing issue of intermittent clean energy
- Expected US electricity demand growth by 2029
- 16%
- Projected data centre electricity consumption by 2030 in the US
- 5%
- Projected data centre electricity consumption by 2030 in Europe
- 8%
- Wait time for new combined cycle gas turbines in the US
- Up to 7 years
- Time to build solar projects
- 1-2 years
- Percentage of hours with power prices below 1 cent per kilowatt-hour in Spain and US Midwest
- 25%
- Potential of thermal storage
- Cheap, scalable, and quick to deploy
- Prediction by Tesla
- More thermal energy storage than lithium-ion batteries in the coming decades
