By Mark Jaffe, EUCI energy writer
Data center capital investment jumped nearly 30% year-over-year in 2025 to $770 billion, more than was invested for the year in the oil and gas sector, according to an analysis by industry consultant Rystad Energy.
Investment in data centers surpassed solar photovoltaic (PV) spending – which has been the fastest growing energy sector for the last 10 years – in 2024. Solar PV investment was $452 million in 2025.
Overall renewable energy spending globally at $796 billion in 2025 still surpassed data center investment, but perhaps not for long.
“Rystad Energy expects investments in data centers to match investments in both the renewable generation industry, as well as the full oil and gas sector – which comprises the upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors,” the analysis said.
The U.S. was the largest market, accounting for 42% of installed capacity, double mainland China, which was the second largest market. India was the third biggest market, with installed capacity roughly equal to the capacity in the next 10 markets.
The U.S. saw $355 billion in data center investments, $199 billion in oil and gas and $78 billion in renewables. China, by contrast, spent $145 billion on data centers, $83 billion on oil and gas and $409 billion on renewables.
Across its major markets, the U.S. set records in 2025 as data center users absorbed 2.5 gigawatts (GW), up 38% from 1.8 GW in 2024, according to real estate services company CBRE’s 2025 Data Center Trends Report.
Nationally, the vacancy rate fell to a record low of 1.4%, even with a 36% increase in total capacity to 9.4 GW, CBRE said.
The rapid growth across all markets, however, is creating infrastructure challenges, Rystad Energy said, adding “beneficiaries of this growth in the energy sector have started to emerge.” These include manufacturers of gas turbines, transformers, and fuel cells.
For example, Siemens Energy, which produces grid and power generation equipment, has seen its share price rise more than 10 times since January 2024. The share price of Bloom Energy – a maker of solid oxide fuel cells – grew at a similar pace.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries shares have increased sixfold since the start of 2024, and GE Vernova has grown two-and-a-half times since January 2025.
“As power demand from data centers rises above 10% in many countries, constraints in terms of access to power, land availability and other infrastructures will push operators to find new markets,” the Rystad Energy analysis said. “By 2030, based on our risked view of installed capacity, we will see strong growth in markets such as Finland, Portugal, and Thailand.”
Investments are increasingly set on data centers of 100 megawatts or more, with big tech companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta focused on hyperscale data centers – with more than 10,000 square-feet and 5,000 servers.
Still, Rystad Energy warned “as with all cases of growth, this boom is not without risks. The various constraints, supply chain delays and disruptions are not likely to be solved in the next few years, which carries a chance of a further spike in prices.”
“While revenues from leading companies are growing exponentially, the sector will need to enter the realm of oil and gas revenue to sustain the level of investments,” the analysis said.
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