- UK annual data center growth anticipated to be less than half seen in Ireland, Finland and Norway
- Nordic sites are costing €600k per MW, Western European sites are costing €2.25m/MW
- UK needs to tackle energy prices, land prices and grid connection speeds
Consultancy firm Kearney has branded the UK as one of Europe's slowest-growing data center markets, despite the government's positive narrative, and it could all be down to regulation.
At present, the UK is said to be Europe's second-largest data center market, however demand is only expected to grow by 17.6% annually between now and 2030, putting it second-last only to Germany (16.2%).
On the flip side, Ireland is slated to see an annual growth rate of 36% – around double the UK's.
UK data center market could be on the decline
Kearney doesn't blame a lack of demand for the slower-than-average growth, but rather its poor ability to accommodate new infrastructure efficiently and affordably.
The consultancy firm sees energy availability as a major blocker across Europe as a whole, with forecasts of 236 Two by 2035 just for data center consumption – up from 96 TWh in 2024.
But beyond energy constraints, which are pretty widespread, the research also reveals that high land prices could be making UK data centers less competitive.
Typical costs for British and other Western European sites are around €2.25 million per megawatt, but Nordic markets are able to hit a low average of €600,000 per megawatt. It puts Finland and Norway's anticipated annual demand growth at 37.6% and 36.8% respectively between now and 2030.
"What has changed is that power and land are scarce enough that the next wave of capacity must match the workloads that genuinely need to be close to users, customers, and national jurisdictions," European Data Center Lead Christoph Neunkirchen explained. "Everything else will go where it is easier to build."
For the UK in particular, whose government says at least 6GW of AI data center capacity will be needed by 2030, Kearney emphasises the need for lower electricity prices, cheaper land and faster grid connections.
