Grids for data centres: ambitious grid planning can win Europe’s AI race

This report by Ember analyses the critical role of electricity grid availability in determining the location and growth of data centres in Europe. It argues that grid congestion in traditional hubs is pushing investment toward the Nordics and Southern Europe, and recommends proactive grid planning, flexible connection agreements, and strategic siting to support the EU's AI ambitions.

• Electricity demand from European data centres is projected to grow from 96 TWh in 2024 to 236 TWh by 2035, an increase of nearly 150%. This growth is expected to be faster than that of electric vehicles and comparable to electrified industry.
• Grid congestion is eroding the dominance of traditional 'FLAP-D' markets (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin). While these hubs currently hold 62% of Europe's data centre capacity, this share is expected to fall to 51% by 2035 as developers move to markets with better grid availability.
• Grid connection wait times in legacy hubs average 7-10 years, and can reach up to 13 years, which deters developers. In contrast, countries with half the connection time of these key markets are projected to attract approximately 20% more data centre growth by 2030.
• Data centres often underutilise their contracted grid capacity; in Europe, they used an average of 44% of their annual nominal power rating in 2024. This low utilisation supports the use of phased connection approaches, which could potentially reduce connection queue times by 80% (from 5-8 years to 12-18 months) based on US data.
• Implementing flexibility in data centre power consumption could significantly increase available grid capacity. The IEA estimates that if European data centres provided just 30 hours of flexibility per year, the available grid capacity for them could more than double.
• The EU's goal to triple data centre capacity within five to seven years, as set in the AI Continent Action Plan (April 2025), is likely to be missed. Forecasts from the IEA, IMF, McKinsey, and ICIS suggest a doubling of capacity by 2030 is more probable.
• Data centres provide substantial economic contributions. In Germany, they contributed an estimated €10.4 billion to GDP in 2024, expected to reach €23 billion by 2029. In the Netherlands, the sector accounts for 20% of all foreign direct investment (FDI).

APA

Cremona, E., & Czyzak, P. (2025). Grids for data centres: ambitious grid planning can win Europe’s AI race. Ember. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/06/Grids-for-data-centres-in-Europe.pdf

Chicago

Cremona, Elisabeth, and Pawel Czyzak. Grids for data centres: ambitious grid planning can win Europe’s AI race. Ember, 2025. https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/06/Grids-for-data-centres-in-Europe.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cremona |first1=Elisabeth |last2=Czyzak |first2=Pawel |title=Grids for data centres: ambitious grid planning can win Europe’s AI race |publisher=Ember |date=19 June 2025 |url=https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/06/Grids-for-data-centres-in-Europe.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cremona2025grids, author = {Cremona, Elisabeth and Czyzak, Pawel}, title = {{Grids for data centres: ambitious grid planning can win Europe’s AI race}}, institution = {Ember}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://ember-energy.org/app/uploads/2025/06/Grids-for-data-centres-in-Europe.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }