Summary
- Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin provide approximately 3.8GW of live capacity.
- JLL recorded 194MW of first-half delivery and forecasts about 453MW for 2026.
- Greenfield developments are taking a larger share of the pipeline as power and land costs push projects outward.
Live data centre capacity across Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin has reached approximately 3.8GW, with another 1.4GW under construction and 2GW planned, according to JLL.
The property adviser expects around 453MW to be delivered across the five markets during 2026, almost three times the volume completed in 2020.
First-half additions totalled 194MW. Paris led with 72.5MW, followed by London with 49MW, Frankfurt with 45MW, Amsterdam with 16.3MW, and Dublin with 11.4MW.
The figures show that Europe’s established hubs continue adding capacity despite planning controls, land scarcity, network constraints, and longer grid-connection programmes.
Demand is absorbing most new supply. Colocation vacancy across the five markets stood at 6.4% in the second quarter, broadly unchanged over the previous two quarters and down from 16.9% in 2021.
Vacancy remains uneven
The combined figure conceals substantial differences. Frankfurt recorded vacancy of 3.1%, while Amsterdam stood at approximately 6.5%. London, Dublin, and Paris recorded 7.4%, 7.2%, and 8% respectively.
Small increases in London, Paris, and Dublin followed the release of new supply. JLL said absorption continued to exceed deliveries and that contiguous high-density space remains scarce in every FLAP-D market.
The shortage is pushing customers to commit before their complete requirement becomes active. Partial pre-lets have become increasingly common where operators need contracted demand to support financing and construction.
Early commitments reduce speculative development risk but require customers to forecast future rack density, cooling, connectivity, and computing demand several years in advance.
For operators, a pre-let can secure funding while also fixing technical expectations during a period of rapid change. Projects designed for one hardware generation may require adjustment before commissioning.
Frankfurt illustrates the difference between pipeline and delivery. JLL recorded 311MW in development and 687MW planned, but grid-connection lead times of 24 months or more are controlling the pace at which capacity can enter service.
Paris delivered more in the first half than JLL had previously expected for the full year. The adviser linked this to France’s nuclear electricity system and a pipeline of sites with available grid positions.
Higher costs push greenfield projects outward
The new figures do not indicate that development is abandoning the established hubs. Core markets continue growing, while the largest and least latency-sensitive requirements are moving further from them.
Greenfield projects have risen from 8% to 39% of the 2026–28 pipeline. JLL calculated that hyperscale greenfield sites now sit an average of 175km from a hub city, compared with 46km previously.
Large AI training sites can tolerate greater distance from metropolitan users than latency-sensitive enterprise or interconnection workloads. Their location is increasingly determined by where sufficient power and land can be secured.
Powered-land prices reinforce that movement. JLL said prime FLAP-D powered land costs have risen 82% since 2021, from €1.24m to €2.26m per megawatt.
Primary markets command a 2.3-times premium over secondary locations and four times the cost of tertiary markets. Within individual countries, the average spread is approximately 2.9 times.
A lower land price does not produce a viable data centre market by itself. Secondary sites require grid capacity, fibre diversity, planning support, equipment logistics, specialist labour, and enough demand to support the operating model.
Ireland’s revised connection framework demonstrates how policy can redirect capital rather than simply increase capacity. Requirements around proximate generation and renewable matching are encouraging developers to consider regional sites outside Greater Dublin.
The 3.8GW figure therefore captures two simultaneous trends. Europe’s established hubs continue to expand and retain connectivity-sensitive demand, while large greenfield projects are being shaped by power availability beyond their traditional boundaries.
With vacancy at 6.4%, the forecast 453MW of 2026 delivery is unlikely to produce a loose market. The larger uncertainty is how much of the 1.4GW under construction and 2GW planned can meet its stated connection and construction programme.
