As data centers become the backbone of organizations and societies at large, data centers in Europe are experiencing major developments.
Driven by innovation and pivotal investments, European data center companies are competing at a global level in a highly competitive market without dominant players.
An ever increasing demand for data storage, processing power, and network connectivity is escalating the need for data centers in Europe exponentially. In fact, certain growth indicators point towards major developments in the coming years. For instance, Western Europe represents one of the world’s largest consumer of mobile data, and mobile technologies and services are already responsible for generating around 4.6% of the GDP in Europe, according to figures by Mordor Intelligence.
Just like the future of data centers in the Middle East presents its own idiosyncrasies, there are particularities to the Europe data center market. At the same time, all data center markets are dominated by global trends, such as a focus on sustainable and efficient data center cooling.
The outlook for data centers in Europe: some figures
Three European countries (Germany, UK and France) are among the top 6 largest revenue generators in the global data center market, according to figures by Statista.
The 4 top companies related to data centers in Europe are Equinix, Inc., NTT Ltd., Société Française du Radiotéléphone (SFR) and Virtus Data Centres Properties Ltd (ST Telemedia Global Data Centres). However, the market is considered highly competitive, so that there are multiple other players shaping the present and future of the industry.
The market volume of the Europe data center market in 2024 amounts to 12.23 Thousand MW, and is expected to reach 17.93 Thousand MW by 2029, according to data by Mordor Intelligence. This reflects an annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.96 % for the period, leading from USD 35,462.11 Million to USD 57,732.9 Million.
This same report highlights how hyperscale colocation and attraction to under-served markets (such as Poland, Spain, Portugal and Italy) are important drivers for the construction of new facilities in the coming years.
Other figures and agencies confirm a positive outlook for data centers in Europe.
For instance, Statista predicts a CAGR of 6.37% between 2024, led by network infrastructure but where servers and storage will also play a role.
In fact, 2023 was a decisive year for European data center companies, with record demand in the continent’s leading markets including Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin, as reported by the EMEA Data Centre Report Q2 2023. With 114 MW of take-up across FLAP-D, the report shows a more than double take up when compared to the 51 MW of Q1. London and Frankfurt both led this increase, albeit differently:
- London saw a decrease in the addition of new supply, as just an extra 7MW were available. However, announcements of new developments in the near future will ensure the capital remains a leader in data centers in Europe
- Frankfurt added 69MW of new supply, with an increase in total market size of more than 11% in the first two quarters of 2023
Trends shaping data centers in Europe now and in the future
Increased redundancy and complete fault tolerance
At the present moment, the tier 3 segment monopolizes a majority of share in data centers in Europe, building from some of this models advantages: an uptime guarantee of 99.982%, cost-effectiveness and energy efficiency.
This trend is expected to translate into a preference for tier 4 in the coming years. In fact, the report by Mordor Intelligence cited above claims the tier 4 segment is expected to surpass growth forecasts for other models, presenting a CAGR of 15.51% for the forecasted period.
Complete fault tolerance in tier 4 data centers and integral redundancies across all levels (from the physical infrastructure to applications and services) are behind this model’s current and future growth.
The report highlights how developing regions within the Europe data center market (such as Barcelona, Milan, and Rome) are expected to triple their amount of data center power in the next four years thanks to the adoption of this model.
Strategic location
The growth of AI applications is resulting in a significant transformation in design and location of data centers in Europe. As mentioned in the report by JLL cited above, a new strategy will involve to ‘bring the data centre to the power rather than bring power to the data centre’.
In other words, latency issues might start being less of a priority, while access to renewable energy, land and water could become a crucial preference.
This is particularly important in the single European market, where the mobility and flexibility of resources can be expected.
For facilities used for training AI models, latency is less of an issue so proximity to the end user is not critical. These data centers can be strategically located where access to renewable energy, land and water is more readily available.
This aligns with sustainability trends and green data center trends explained below, as water becomes an essential resource for cooling purposes.
DCIM
DCIM or Data Center Infrastructure Management is set to play a key role in the data centers in Europe today and in the future.
With the aim of optimizing the physical and virtual infrastructure of data centers, these solutions allow for a centralized management perspective, thus allowing for better decision-making and resource allocation.
In a context where efficiency of data centers in Europe is set to become a crucial differentiator, DCIM solutions stand out as a recipe for success.
Green data centers
As we've mentioned across the article, green data centers are positioned to lead the Europe data center market.
Designed to be highly energy efficient and to minimize their environmental impact, the success of these infrastructures relies on two factors: their strategies to guarantee energy sustainability and, ultimately, their capacity for cost-efficiency.
Effective data center cooling systems are at the heart of green data centers. Essential to prevent overheating (and thus equipment failures and downtime), they help optimize energy efficiency and reduce overall operational costs.
In this context, initiatives such as liquid cooling stand out, as liquids are 1000 times more effective in terms of cooling. From cold-water pipes to innovative liquid cooling initiatives (such as non-conductive fluids, chilled read doors or hot water cooling systems), there are multiple options that allow data centers to shrink their energy bills.
The result is data centers that successfully integrate efficiency practices, both ensuring a smaller environmental footprint and enhancing their financial bottom line.
At ARANER, we’re at the forefront of modern thermal engineering, a position that has meant we’ve successfully implemented modern and efficient data center cooling solutions across a wide range of projects.
Take our state-of-the-art involvement in data center cooling of the Al Ashghal complex. This project required a data center design with a powerful cooling plan that would not only maintain low temperatures of the chiller water supply, but also introduce a Thermal Energy Storage (TES) system as an emergency cooling source.
As undisputed leaders in large-scale cooling solutions, at ARANER we’re excited to be involved in the promising landscape of data centers in Europe. Looking for reliable partners to guide your project in ensuring efficiency in your data center? Look no further: download our data center reference book to learn more about our work or get in touch with us and speak to our team about how we can help you.
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