Record supply levels anticipated in secondary data centre markets

Author: Simon Rowley

According to new research from CBRE, a data centre construction boom is underway in the smaller secondary markets of Europe, with an unprecedented annual volume of capacity slated for delivery this year.

The research indicates that there is 273MW of new supply expected in secondary European markets this year, including the 56MW already delivered in Q1. If this supply comes to fruition, it will set a new record for the secondary markets and would represent an increase of 45MW more than the record 228MW of capacity delivered in 2022.

Cloud service providers are increasingly looking to provide services to local markets in-country, as opposed to in-region, and this is leading to new growth beyond Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin, the five largest data centre markets in Europe. CBRE states that the secondary data centre markets in Europe are Berlin, Brussels, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Oslo, Stockholm, Warsaw, Vienna, and Zurich.

CBRE expects the data centre supply in eight of the ten secondary European markets tracked to grow by double digits this year. Five of these markets are expected to have more than 100MW of supply by year-end, compared to just two at the end of 2022.

Despite the additional capacity, take-up is expected to outstrip the new supply delivered in Europe this year. There is 714MW of take-up and 551MW of new supply projected for 2024 across the 15 markets tracked by CBRE.

Kevin Restivo, Head of European Data Centre Research at CBRE, says, “Growth of data centre supply in secondary markets is expected to almost triple the European growth rate this year, with Milan set to become the largest secondary market in Europe by year end with 211MW of data centre supply. Providers are looking to meet strong hyperscaler demand and grow relatively young data centre markets with greater returns in mind.”

Andrew Jay, Head of Data Centre Solutions at CBRE, adds, “By year end, European supply will have more than doubled over the past five years. However, more data centres will be needed outside of metro markets to accommodate artificial intelligence (AI) workloads given the lack of available power and AI-ready facilities in densely populated cities of Europe.”

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