Heatwaves Add New Risks to India's AI Data Centre Expansion; Here's How

India and Europe are experiencing their hottest summers on record in 2026, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. Severe heatwaves are placing immense operational stress on critical global infrastructure. This includes factories, nuclear power plants, and artificial intelligence data centres.

Data centres house thousands of servers that generate massive amounts of heat under normal operating conditions. These facilities require industrial cooling systems to regulate temperatures and maintain operations.

Extreme weather forces these cooling systems to work harder and consume more electricity. If these cooling systems fail under environmental stress, facilities face a severe risk of equipment overheating and permanent structural damage.

Global Infrastructure Under Threat

A study by First Street reveals that 79% of the world's data centre capacity is exposed to a high risk of climate hazards such as wildfires, floods, and extreme heat. Climate events threaten to shut down data centre operations, disrupt online services, and drive up post-damage repair and maintenance expenses.

Currently, 64% of global data centre capacity is being built outside traditional major hubs as companies expand into new markets. Countries such as Brazil are experiencing rapid growth in data centre construction to meet this demand.

Redesigning Systems for Survival

Tech companies are redesigning cooling systems to cope with extreme weather, which, in turn, drives up electricity demand. Cooling systems consume approximately 40% of a data centre's total electricity under normal operating conditions, the First Street study stated. Heatwaves force these systems to work harder.

This sudden surge in energy consumption raises the risk of power shortages and grid blackouts. Companies are mitigating these risks by selecting locations that are less vulnerable to extreme weather.

Facility operators are building redundant infrastructure to prevent prolonged outages during natural disasters. Firms are also deploying real-time monitoring systems to continuously track temperature, power usage, and equipment health.

AI Data Centres Demand

The climate crisis is unfolding alongside a surge in demand for AI data centres in India.

The country now ranks second in the Asia-Pacific region for operational data centre capacity, with 1.6 GW currently online. It is also among the top three APAC markets in terms of its development pipeline, with 3.1 GW either under construction or planned, according to a report by Cushman & Wakefield.

The study assesses 107 global markets using 24 variables, including real estate fundamentals, power infrastructure, development activity, the regulatory environment, and operational risk.

India’s data centre network extends across several cities, with Mumbai serving as the key hub that underpins the country’s status as a primary market in the Asia-Pacific region. Mumbai is projected to exceed 1 GW of operational capacity by the end of 2026.