Summary
- Germany and the UAE have included approximately 1GW of new data-centre capacity in a €40bn investment package.
- The bilateral agreement also covers energy, AI, digital infrastructure, and work on secure data-hosting models.
- Individual data-centre sites, operators, grid connections, and delivery dates have not yet been identified.
A €40bn United Arab Emirates investment package for Germany is expected to include approximately 1GW of new data centre capacity, placing digital infrastructure alongside energy, industrial, and technology investments in a wider bilateral economic agreement.
The German federal government and the UAE set out the commitment during President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s state visit to Germany from 9 to 11 September. Their joint declaration describes advanced digital infrastructure as one element of the package and specifically identifies new data centres with a combined capacity of about 1GW.
No individual facilities, locations, operators, development timetables, or grid-connection arrangements have been disclosed. That leaves a sizeable gap between the investment commitment and the physical projects needed to turn a gigawatt of proposed capacity into energised data halls.
The 1GW figure is substantial even before individual projects are defined. Data centre capacity at that scale requires not only buildings and computing hardware, but large volumes of firm electrical capacity, transmission and distribution infrastructure, cooling plant, backup systems, land, and planning approvals. Germany’s statement says it intends to create a favourable environment for implementation, but does not yet specify how power or permitting constraints will be addressed.
The investment package forms part of a broader expansion of German-UAE economic ties. The two governments said 29 business-to-business memoranda and agreements worth more than €9.35bn were signed around the visit, while the €40bn package is intended to support German industrial competitiveness, technological capability, and long-term growth.
Digital infrastructure joins a wider energy package
The data centre commitment sits beside a series of energy agreements rather than in isolation. Germany and the UAE are expanding cooperation across renewable power, liquefied natural gas, hydrogen, energy storage, and other parts of the energy system. RWE and UAE-backed Masdar, for example, agreed to explore possible participation in German offshore wind auctions, while other agreements cover future LNG supply and energy investment.
That combination is notable because the limiting factor for large European data centre developments is increasingly the availability and timing of electrical capacity rather than simply investor appetite. A headline commitment of approximately 1GW therefore creates a second set of questions around where that capacity can physically connect, how projects will be sequenced, and whether generation and network investment will develop alongside the computing estate.
The bilateral declaration also extends beyond conventional data centre development. Germany and the UAE agreed to explore cooperation on data hosting and information systems through the possible establishment of so-called data embassies, which are intended to provide secure and resilient digital infrastructure under new forms of cross-border cooperation.
The two governments separately identified artificial intelligence and emerging technologies as areas for deeper cooperation. That gives the proposed data centre capacity a wider industrial-policy context: Germany is attempting to expand domestic compute infrastructure while the UAE is deploying capital into AI, energy, and digital infrastructure internationally.
For developers and utilities, however, the next useful information will be more prosaic. The declaration does not show whether the 1GW represents one development pipeline or several unrelated projects, whether capacity has already been reserved on German networks, or which regions are being considered.
Those details will determine whether the commitment represents near-term deliverable capacity or a longer-term investment ambition. Until sites and power pathways emerge, the 1GW figure is best read as a significant capital and policy commitment rather than an energised development pipeline.
