10 POWER MODULES https://www.tesgroup.com/power/ Issue 3 2026 Power Electronics Europe www.power-mag.com The Modular, Containerised Heart of the Data Centre By Michael Beagan, Managing Director of TES Power Driven by the global artificial intelligence (AI) race, demand for data centre capacity and power is accelerating rapidly. Recent estimates point to a 10% to 20% year-onyear increase in global capacity requirements as companies race to meet exponential demand for more powerful compute to support the next generation of AI models. The International Energy Agency estimates that data centres account for approximately 1.5% of global electricity use, or around 415 terawatt-hours annually. This figure has grown by roughly 12% per year over the past five years. Projections suggest that demand could more than double to 945 terawatt-hours by 2030, driven primarily by the rise of energy-intensive accelerated computing for AI, and demand from colocation and cloud continues to grow. To meet this generational surge in demand, the data centre industry needs the ability to scale at speed. This expansion is highlighting pressures on two critical areas of the digital infrastructure buildouts: the effects of AI architectures on the complexity of power distribution and the speed at which new sites can be delivered with traditional construction practices. Something Has to Give In short, the speed and scale of AI demand is incompatible with how data centres have been built for the last two decades. Prior to the AI boom, data centre designs evolved more slowly. Workloads behaved more predictably, and component lifecycles were likewise better understood. The race to build AI-ready infrastructure has removed much of that certainty. Meeting the challenge of a global AI buildout calls for a sea change in how companies approach both data centre design and the build process. Traditionally, data centre construction took the form of large-scale, site-based projects involving multiple contractors and long delivery timelines. These approaches are intensive, complex, and vulnerable to disruption - from extreme weather to labour constraints. Increasingly, building a data centre in this fashion is at odds with the pace required by the current market. To further complicate matters, AI workloads are introducing new challenges in power consumption beyond the obvious problems of rising rack densities. Unlike conventional applications like cloud and colocation, AI systems exhibit very dynamic load profiles. High-density GPU clusters can ramp from low utilisation to peak demand within seconds, then drop off again just as quickly. These rapid fluctuations are difficult to predict and place stress on electrical infrastructure. Managing power flow across the facility without straining transformers and switchgear is the defining design challenge. The knock-on implications are potentially serious throughout the entire power chain. Operators are reporting concerns about accelerated ageing in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) batteries, increased strain on these UPS systems, transformer fatigue, and potential impacts on low-voltage switchgear protection mechanisms. Accommodating these new challenges calls for a new, more responsive and resilient approach to power system design. This shift in workload behaviour is one of several factors driving the next generation of data centre architecture. At the same time as the industry is rapidly iterating new approaches to facility design, the insatiable demand for AI infrastructure is also shortening design cycles and accelerating project timelines. These conflicting factors are increasing the need for flexibility and adaptability throughout the design and build phases as developers and operators seek to solve engineering pain points while delivering capacity at speed. In response, modularisation has emerged as a key design principle for injecting the necessary speed and flexibility into the build process. By transitioning from traditional construction to industrialised manufacturing, builders can reduce complexity and speed up their deployments. Factory-built systems allow for parallel production, improved quality control, and reduced reliance on site-based assembly. Modular, Containerised, Powerful One of the leading areas for modularisation is within the power system. Containerised modular units integrate the full power chain into a single, transportable solution, enabling rapid deployment and scalable expansion. Often described as the heart of the data centre, these plug and play power modules can receive high-voltage electricity from the grid and convert it into
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