BofA Sees Data Center Spending Doubling to $2.1 Trillion by 2028

Neoclouds, the AI-focused facilities, cost about $57 million per megawatt, BofA said, though they benefit from lower space requirements than traditional data centers. Reuters did not give the basis for the $8 million per megawatt gap beyond that space point. Voltgrid News earlier covered Nebius's preliminary NEOM data center deal.

What Data Center Spending Means for Power and Cooling Suppliers

BofA said most other functions, including switchgear, power distribution, generators, backup power, chillers and cooling, cost between $100,000 and $1.1 million per megawatt. Set against $31.4 million for servers, each of those lines is a small slice of the per-megawatt bill. The brokerage's numbers therefore imply that growth in industrial suppliers' data center revenue follows the volume of megawatts built, not a large share of each dollar spent.

Reuters noted that data center spending has been a fast-growing source of revenue for industrial companies that make generators, construction equipment, switchgears and chillers. It added that chipmakers and server developers have been among the biggest beneficiaries of the buildout, particularly in the United States. Voltgrid News also reported how US midterms could disrupt data center timing and cost.

What is not confirmed yet

The report does not say whether the $1 trillion and $2.1 trillion figures cover capital expenditure only or all spending, nor which regions drive the total. It also does not say how many megawatts the forecast implies. Until BofA's note is public, treat the per-megawatt costs as one brokerage's estimates, not as audited project data.