Conventional power generation returned 60 per cent in the 12 months to June 2026, outperforming digital infrastructure and renewable energy as artificial intelligence drove higher electricity demand, according to MSCI’s The State of Private Infrastructure: An Asset Class Coming of Age.
Although conventional power generation represented just 6 per cent of the index, its return contributed about 3.8 percentage points to the overall result. Digital infrastructure, which made up 28 per cent of the index, returned 11 per cent and contributed about 3.1 percentage points.
The shift in portfolio composition has been pronounced, with energy and related assets now accounting for roughly half of infrastructure portfolios and digital infrastructure’s share of the MSCI Global Quarterly Private Infrastructure Asset Index rising from 3.6 per cent a decade ago to just under 30 per cent in June 2026.
Renewable energy, including storage, returned 3.8 per cent over the same 12 months and was more volatile than conventional power generation and digital infrastructure, showing how varied the performance of energy assets can be even as demand for electricity grows.
The spread in infrastructure performance has also been wider than in real estate, with average cross-sector return dispersion reaching 7.4 per cent since 2009, compared with 3.2 per cent for real estate, making asset selection a significant influence on portfolio outcomes.
That variation was visible across regions in the year to June 2026, when bottom-quartile assets returned zero in Asia Pacific and less than 1 per cent in the Americas and Europe, the Middle East and Africa, while top-quartile assets returned between 13 and 19 per cent.
How data centres are owned can shape their return profile as much as the underlying asset, with infrastructure-held facilities often operating as platforms that have development pipelines and revenue beyond rent, while real estate-held facilities are more commonly stabilised properties valued on lease income and residual land value.
Climate exposure adds another consideration for investors and lenders, as 89 per cent of Asia Pacific data centre capacity is in markets above the report’s thresholds for chronic heat or drought stress, compared with 54 per cent of capacity globally, potentially exposing operations and revenues where heat and water risks are not reflected in valuations.