Chile Water Consumption Market Analysis
The Chile Water Consumption Market size is estimated at 13.46 billion liters in 2025, and is expected to reach 30.80 billion liters by 2030, at a CAGR of greater than 18% during the forecast period (2025-2030).
- IT Load Capacity: In 2024, Chile’s colocation data center market's IT load capacity is approximately 230.47 MW.
- Geographical Significance: Chile boasts a variety of climate zones: tropical in the north, Mediterranean in the center, and Antarctic (antiboreal oceanic) in the south. These diverse climates range from the arid Atacama Desert to the towering Andes peaks. In Santiago and the Central Valleys, the Mediterranean climate brings winter rainfall, with temperatures ranging from 0ºC to 13ºC. Summers are mild, averaging between 16ºC and 35ºC. Yet, after grappling with a 15-year drought, Chile's reservoirs are alarmingly low, jeopardizing water access for households and industrial sectors alike.
- Raised Floor Space: In 2024, the raised floor space for Chile colocation data center market is estimated at approximately 826913.42 sq.ft.
- Projected Installed Racks: The number of projected installed racks in Chile colocation data center market for 2024 is around 32924.
Chile Water Consumption Market Trends
Rising Demand for Large Data Centers Amid Digitalization Trends Sparks Concerns Over Water Consumption
Chile spearheads digitalization through pivotal technologies like AI, Cloud, IoT, and government-led digital initiatives. The nation's tech workforce, advanced R&D, online streaming, IT services, and extensive data centers drive IT innovation. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), Chile's IT spending reached $8.2 billion in 2022, with a forecasted growth of 5.5 percent by 2024.
As of January 2024, Chile had 17.88 million internet users, achieving an internet penetration rate of 91.0 percent. Leading the region, Chile's mobile connection penetration is at 147 percent, equating to 28.84 million cellular connections. The transition to 5G is ongoing, driven by new network rollouts and increasing demand for high-speed services. For instance, Entel plans to gradually shut down its 2G network to focus on 4G and 5G, starting in the latter half of 2024 to minimize communication disruptions.
Chile is a frontrunner in AI adoption, leading global governance efforts with UNESCO's support. In 2024, Chile topped the Latin American Artificial Intelligence Index (ILIA), which assesses AI applications across 19 countries. Excelling in infrastructure, professional training, research, and technology adoption, Chile's leadership in the region is clear. This trend will increase the demand for large data centers to manage the growing AI and cloud data needs across sectors.
Technological advancements in Chile are transforming industries and accelerating digitalization, creating new opportunities. Data centers are adopting advanced cooling solutions like liquid cooling for high-density racks, GPUs, and HPCs, leading to increased water consumption. Continuous cooling is essential for the seamless operation of AI and mega data centers, ensuring the protection of vast amounts of secured data.
Colocation Data Center Providers Adopt Cooling Technologies to Reduce Water Usage
Chile's strategic position is essential in fulfilling the rising demands of the Cloud & AI data center market, driven by growing AI requirements and rapid technological advancements. The country leverages renewable energy sources to power its operations, meeting AI's density and capacity needs, promoting innovative cooling solutions, and benefiting from extensive interconnections. Chilean data centers, primarily focused on colocation and cloud services, source water from freshwater and potable supplies. These facilities often switch to water-based cooling during temperature increases, highlighting water's critical role in cooling systems, managing heat in large facilities, and ensuring continuous operation of racks and servers 24/7.
Santiago has the highest concentration of data centers in Chile. With the increasing adoption of 5G, cloud services, and AI, both power and water demands in these areas have significantly risen. This surge has raised concerns for Chile's water authorities and municipalities as substantial amounts of water are used to cool these data centers. For instance, in 2024, Chile's environmental court partially reversed Google's permit, citing concerns over the company's use of the capital's strained aquifer. In response, Google accepted the petition, modified its water-intensive cooling system, and submitted a revised design that employs air cooling instead.
Immersion Liquid Cooling and closed-loop cooling systems dominate the cooling technology landscape in Chilean data centers, while some data centers adopt air-based cooling due to Chile's climate and water restrictions. In response to the increasing demands of digitalization, stringent water restrictions, and AI, prominent colocation operators have adopted these advanced cooling solutions. For example, Equinix's Santiago data center features water-cooled chillers with CRAHs, cold aisle, hot aisle, and free air cooling technology.
Chile Water Consumption Industry Overview
The Chile data center water consumption market is fragmented, with five key players: EdgeConneX Inc., Google, Inc., Equinix Inc., Ascenty (Digital Realty Trust Inc.), and Amazon Web Services, Inc. Notably, cloud data centers, particularly those managed by Google and AWS, aim to achieve a "water positive" status by 2030. For instance, AWS has projected a return of approximately 1.85 billion gallons of water annually once their global operations, including those in Chile, are fully implemented.
Chile Water Consumption Market Leaders
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Google, Inc.
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EdgeConneX Inc.
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Equinix Inc.
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Ascenty (Digital Realty Trust Inc.)
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Amazon Web Services, Inc.
- *Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order
Chile Water Consumption Market News
- August 2024: Excessive water extraction from the Maipo Basin river has caused severe water scarcity. AWS has partnered with local farmers and the climate-tech company Kilimo to reduce water usage in the basin. They will convert approximately 67 hectares of agricultural land from flood to drip irrigation, saving an estimated 200 million liters of water annually.
- September 2024: Google paused its plans for a data center in Chile. The decision comes after concerns over water consumption, particularly in cooling systems. In response, Google has revised its original design, opting for an air cooling system instead of the previously water-intensive method. The tech giant also emphasized its commitment to working closely with local authorities to meet environmental standards.
Chile Water Consumption Industry Segmentation
The study tracks the critical applications of water in large data centers, such as cooling and power generation. It includes key applications based on water consumption in data centers and quantifies overall water usage in billion liters across regions. The study also identifies underlying trends and developments conceptualized by leading industry data center operators.
The Chile Water Consumption Market is Divided Into Segments Based On Water Procurement (Potable Water, Non-Potable Water, and Other Alternate Sources), Data Center Type (Enterprise, Colocation, and Cloud Service Providers (CSPs)), and Data Center Size (Mega, Massive, Large, Medium, and Small). The Report Provides Market Size and Forecasts for all These Segments, Measured in Volume (Billion Liters).
Market Segmentation - By Source of Water Procurement | Potable Water (Via Regional Water Utility Companies, Local Water Authorities or Private Companies) |
Non-Potable Water (It Includes greywater (Treated Sewage or Recycled Water) | |
Other Alternate Source (It includes on-site Groundwater, Surface Water, Seawater, Water produced via a byproduct of oil and gas extraction, and Rainwater) | |
Market Segmentation - By Data Center Type | Enterprise |
Colocation | |
Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) | |
Market Segmentation - By Data Center Size | Mega |
Massive | |
Large | |
Medium | |
Small |
Chile Water Consumption Market Research FAQs
How big is the Chile Water Consumption Market?
The Chile Water Consumption Market size is expected to reach 13.46 billion liters in 2025 and grow at a CAGR of greater than 18% to reach 30.80 billion liters by 2030.
What is the current Chile Water Consumption Market size?
In 2025, the Chile Water Consumption Market size is expected to reach 13.46 billion liters.
Who are the key players in Chile Water Consumption Market?
Google, Inc., EdgeConneX Inc., Equinix Inc., Ascenty (Digital Realty Trust Inc.) and Amazon Web Services, Inc. are the major companies operating in the Chile Water Consumption Market.
What years does this Chile Water Consumption Market cover, and what was the market size in 2024?
In 2024, the Chile Water Consumption Market size was estimated at 11.04 billion liters. The report covers the Chile Water Consumption Market historical market size for years: 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The report also forecasts the Chile Water Consumption Market size for years: 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029 and 2030.
Chile Water Consumption Industry Report
Statistics for the 2025 Chile Water Consumption market share, size and revenue growth rate, created by Mordor Intelligence™ Industry Reports. Chile Water Consumption analysis includes a market forecast outlook for 2025 to 2030 and historical overview. Get a sample of this industry analysis as a free report PDF download.