ENERGY & POWER
As of mid-2026, the data centre sector is experiencing an infrastructure investment supercycle. Hyperscale expansion and AI inference demands are straining global power grids, shifting the operational narrative from simply sourcing power to aggressively managing energy storage and grid resilience.
Today, data centre operators are seeking advanced energy storage solutions to circumvent grid constraints, navigate regulatory pressures, manage dynamic loads and provide robust backup solutions for greater periods of time.
The grid connection bottleneck A pressing challenge in 2026 is grid availability. According to JLL’ s 2026 Global Data Center Outlook, the sector is projected to double in size, adding nearly 100GW of global capacity by 2030. However, the average wait time for a utility grid connection in primary data centre hubs can now exceed four years.
As a result, facility operators are turning toward massive“ behind-the-meter” power arrangements. Co-located battery energy storage systems( BESS) act as an essential bridge between a facility’ s completion and final grid energisation, smoothing out power draws and buying time for grid infrastructure to catch up.
118 June 2026