A new Noga document reveals 100 requests for data centers nationwide, including projects at IKEA, BIG and Rami Levy sites, as AI and cloud demand push electricity needs to unprecedented levelsIsrael is facing a wave of demand for new data centers, with 100 separate requests submitted for facilities across the country as artificial intelligence and cloud computing drive a sharp increase in electricity needs.A document published by Noga, the company responsible for managing Israel’s electricity system, shows proposed data centers at a wide range of commercial and industrial sites, including properties associated with BIG, IKEA and Rami Levy.Planned AI data center near Shoham (Illustration: ChatGPT)Data centers are massive facilities housing thousands of servers that operate continuously and require a constant, high-capacity power supply. As a result, the ability to connect them to the national grid has become one of the biggest obstacles facing developers.The cumulative demand is enormous.Of the 100 projects listed in the document, 22 have already been examined by Noga, with the findings sent back to developers. The remaining 78 are still in earlier planning and review stages and are listed as “in preparation.”The document illustrates how quickly demand is spreading beyond traditional industrial zones, with developers looking to convert existing commercial, logistics and industrial properties into major computing facilities.In northern Israel, some of the largest requests include Kadmat Galil Factory at 875 megawatts, BIG Kiryat Shmona at 500 megawatts, BIG Tiberias at 500 megawatts, Bar-Lev Industrial Park at 66.67 megawatts and Kibbutz Shamir at 50 megawatts.Other planned sites are listed in Tziporit and Nesher.In central Israel and the Sharon region, one of the largest proposals is Mega Or’s planned project on the former Alliance factory site in Hadera, with requested capacity of 1,111 megawatts.Other major requests include Neve Yamin at 720 megawatts, Sano Emek Hefer at 120 megawatts, Kfar Saba at 222 megawatts, as well as projects in Netanya, Shoham, Or Yehuda and Modi’in.The south and Negev are also seeing extensive activity. IKEA Beersheba, BIG Kiryat Gat, Iskur Kiryat Gat and Kargal Lehavim each have requests for 500 megawatts. Segev Shalom is listed at 445 megawatts, Ashalim at 250 megawatts and Ramat Negev at 223 megawatts.The scale of those requests highlights the central problem created by the data center boom: electricity.AI systems require vast computing power, and the infrastructure supporting them consumes enormous quantities of energy around the clock. As companies expand their use of artificial intelligence and cloud services, demand for data centers is rising faster than many national power systems were designed to accommodate.The trend has already become politically sensitive in the United States, where opposition to data center construction has grown in some communities.A Gallup survey found that 71% of Americans oppose the construction of data centers near where they live. Concerns include higher electricity and water prices, the effects of artificial intelligence on employment and a broader sense that corporate profits may come at the expense of local communities.Israel now faces a similar infrastructure challenge.The 100 applications do not mean all of the projects will ultimately be approved or built, but they reveal the scale of investor interest and the pressure that the AI boom is beginning to place on the national electricity network.For developers, access to land is no longer the only key issue.Increasingly, the decisive question is whether Israel’s power grid can keep up.