🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Nearly $2 billion from KKR and Oak Hill Capital goes to GTR as EU data centers face grid limits

• Europe faces power bottlenecks for data centers, with waits of more than seven years in Germany 1.
• GTR’s GB One campus in Slough captures the power squeeze. It plans 40.5 MW across three buildings by year-end 2024 while leasing the site from Segro, a UK industrial property developer and real estate investment trust (REIT) 2.
• New money can push GTR’s project slate, including greenfield capacity (new builds on undeveloped land) 3, yet progress hinges on power deals in tight markets 4. GTR builds tailored, sustainable sites for global hyperscalers (the largest cloud platforms) 3. This fits the EU’s Cloud and AI Development Act (an EU initiative to expand compute and data infrastructure) plan to triple processing 4. Projects must meet rules in Germany on renewable power and waste heat reuse 4.

Vendors and power providers shift to Southern Europe and Poland as FLAP-D saturates

• The FLAP-D hubs face limits 4. Spain and Italy gain momentum with government incentives and subsea links like Meta’s 2Africa cable (a high-capacity subsea system linking Africa with Europe and the Middle East) 4.
• Poland is a breakout market with solid infrastructure, strong education, and EU funding 4. It is expected to become a hub for AI data center builds 4.
• Power equipment suppliers, cooling technology vendors, and engineering firms can win by focusing on these areas 4. These locales offer looser grid access with faster approvals 4. Liquid cooling can cut energy use by up to 40% and trim water needs by 30 to 40% 5.