2026 Bloomberg NEF Pioneers Finalists Tackle Data Center Sustainability
12 February 2026
Challenge 1: Technologies for Sustainable, Scalable Data Center Infrastructure
Explosive growth in data center demand, which is driven by the surge in the use of AI, is straining power grids, water systems, and materials supply chains. BNEF projects data centers will become a major user of electricity, consuming 1,600 terawatt-hours by 2035, about 4.4% of projected global electricity demand and comparable to some of the world’s largest economies.
With this challenge, BNEF was looking for technologies that support this data center growth while meeting energy and climate goals.
The selected finalists focus on improving efficiencies in cooling and power for data centers, alongside ways to make data centers better equipped to respond to grid constraints.
2026 finalists:
- Amperesand
- EMCOOL Inc.
- Emerald AI
- HT Materials Science
- SkyCool Systems
- Point2 Technology Inc.
- WATTER
- ZutaCore
Excerpted from Original BloombergNEF Article