Bank of America has put a number on how fast the data center build-out could go. According to Reuters, BofA Global Research expects global data center spending of about $1 trillion in 2026, roughly doubling to $2.1 trillion by 2028. The forecast came in a research note dated 23 October and ties the growth to demand for AI services.
What the Note Says
The bank values the data center market at $275 billion in 2022 and sees it reaching $2.93 trillion by 2030, a compound annual growth rate of 37 % for 2025 to 2030. On cost, EconoTimes and TechStartups both report about $31.4 million per megawatt for servers and $49 million per megawatt for the build, with IT equipment taking 78 % of the total. TechStartups adds that BofA puts neocloud facilities, the AI-focused operators, at about $57 million per megawatt, and networking at $4.8 million.
Where Generators Show Up in the Bill
TechStartups also reports that switchgear, generators, backup power, chillers and cooling components each come to roughly $100,000 to $1.1 million per megawatt in the note. Set against $49 million for the whole megawatt, the generator line is small. It is also the line that decides whether a hall can be commissioned on the day the servers arrive. Builders are already booking generators two years ahead, as we reported from Capacity Europe (our report), and a forecast of doubled spending does not shorten that queue.
The Conditions Attached
As reported, the bank's own caveats are the practical ones: developers have to secure electricity, permits and grid connections, and rising costs and local opposition can slow projects or raise their price. The returns depend on whether AI products earn enough to justify the spending. Neither report breaks the figures down by region or by type of equipment, so the generator number above is an average, not a quote for any one site.
For anyone specifying backup power, the useful reading is narrower than the headline: the order books of the next two years are being filled now, and a vote like the one in Archbald (our report) is a reminder that a project still has to clear local approval before the generators arrive.
Sources: TechStartups, EconoTimes