Demand for AI-ready data centre capacity continued to accelerate across Europe in H1 2026, according to new data from CBRE.
Signings for AI-focused colocation capacity reached 420MW in the first half of 2026, up on the 89MW of activity recorded in the same period in 2025.
Two-thirds of the contracted capacity (66%) is set to be delivered by data centre operators to ‘neoclouds’ – emerging AI infrastructure providers – in the Nordic region, taking advantage of their low cost and plentiful supply of renewable power.
Andrew Jay, head of data centre solutions, Europe at CBRE, said: “Neoclouds have emerged as viable occupiers who are taking capacity at scale in markets typically where lower-cost power is the norm. It is a sign that many data centre providers are increasingly comfortable with the ambitions of neocloud providers and the financial structures that can be used to satisfy the funders.”
Kevin Restivo, director, European data centre research at CBRE, added: “The underlying demand for compute is immense. Several Neocloud companies have emerged with investment-grade customers, enabling them to secure capacity and support the growing requirements of AI workloads. As a result, we are seeing unprecedented growth in this segment with deployments in areas in parts of Europe where data centre development isn’t the norm.”
