Weekly Data Centre News - 20/02/2026
Weekly Update! It’s been an interesting week for the data centre sector, not just because of the scale of the announcements, but because of the conversation surrounding them. We’re seeing a noticeable rise in community pushback against new developments, a clear sign that the spotlight on our industry is getting brighter. That means we need to get better at telling our story, explaining the value, the innovation, the jobs, and the sustainability progress that often go unheard.
On the news front, India had a particularly big week with several multi-billion-dollar announcements, while across Europe and the US we saw more new developments unveiled and yet more capital raised to fund the next wave of growth. The momentum hasn’t slowed, but the narrative around it is evolving.
I’ll be on the road this week attending the Microsoft AI Tour and Platform UK, so hopefully I’ll see some of you there and continue the conversation in person.
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Events
Data Centre Marketing Club: After Hours (3rd March, London). Register here.
European Resilience Summit, London, March 3. Register here.
Reports
Cushman & Wakefield: H2 2025 EMEA Data Centre Market Update. Read here.
JLL: North America Data Center Report Year-end 2025. Read here.
POLITICO asked 2,000 people about data centers — and made 5 charts. Read here.
Anthropic: Covering electricity price increases from our data centers. Read here.
Oracle: Designing Data Centers for the Communities and Natural Environments Where We Operate. Read here.
Microsoft: We need to act with urgency to address the growing AI divide. Read here.
e-on: Two-thirds of Brits support data centre in their vicinity – provided the waste heat is used efficiently. Read here.
Europe
Nscale Signs a $1.4bn Delayed Draw Term Loan Backed by GPUs to Finance Multiple Cluster Deployments Across Europe. Read here.
Amazon files to develop tape library data center outside London, UK. Read here.
Plans to build ‘hyperscale’ data centres on Chelmsford fields. Read here.
Proposals submitted for 500MW Data Centre in Somerset (UK). Read here.
AI cloud firm Nebius posts surge in capex on GPU, data center expenses. Read here.
UK MPs fear data centre boom could derail Miliband’s net zero plans. Read here.
Fossefall is looking to develop in Harpefoss in central Norway, while PolarDC is targeting two sites south of Oslo in Drangedal and Porsgrunni. Read here.
Plans advance for 50MW data center in Certosa di Pavia, Italy. Read here.
Mediterra arrives in Catalonia, plans Barcelona data center. Read here.
Large data centre investment in Germany totals more than €1 billion in 2025. Read here.
Data center planned on 60-hectare site in Finnish Lapland. Read here.
Middle East & Africa
Khazna launches DC skills development graduate program. Read here.
APAC
Sharon AI Announces Nasdaq Listing and Pricing of $125 Million U.S. Initial Public Offering. Read here.
Indian data center firm Yotta to build $2 billion AI hub with Nvidia’s Blackwell chips. Read here.
Adani Group to Invest $100 Billion in Renewable-Powered AI Data Centres by 2035. Read here.
Introducing OpenAI for India. Read here.
Tata Group and OpenAI Form Partnership, to Develop AI Data Centers. Read here.
Reliance to invest $110bn in AI as India’s data center sector heats up. Read here.
AirTrunk fires starting pistol as AI bond bonanza reaches Down Under. Read here.
Blackstone Leads $1.2B Funding Round for India AI Data Centre Startup Neysa. Read here.
Govt. approves 601.40 acres of land for Google data centre in Vizag. Read here.
Macquarie boosts loan to fund Sydney AI data centre. Read here.
Goodman tilts pipeline towards data centres as power bank reaches 6GW. Read here.
Equinix inks 121 MW data center solar deal in Japan. Read here.
Blackstone leads $1.2 billion funding for India’s AI infra platform Neysa. Read here.
DigiCo will triple size of flagship data centre, despite scepticism. Read here.
North America
Microsoft on pace for $50bn AI investment in “global south”. Read here.
O’Leary Digital Forms Joint Venture to Advance 7.5 GW Wonder Valley Utah Campus; Alberta Permitting Underway. Read here.
Meta expands Nvidia deal to use millions of AI chips in data center build-out, including standalone CPUs. Read here.
Anthropic cloud spend expected to reach $80bn through 2029. Read here.
Fleet Data Centers Announces Pricing of $3.8 Billion of Senior Secured Notes for Hyperscale Facility in Rapidly Growing Reno Hub. Read here.
Rowan Secures $550 Million of Construction Financing for 300 MW Cinco Project in Texas. Read here.
Mortenson, Turner win $10B Meta data center in Indiana. Read here.
Turner Selected as One of the Contractors for $10 Billion Meta Data Center Campus in Indiana. Read here.
$3bn Data center one step closer to reality after Spartanburg County Council approval. Read here.
New US platform, Prime Power Inc, launches to deliver low-carbon energy to data centres. Read here.
Data centres consider backing uranium projects, NexGen CEO says. Read here.
CBRE hits record revenue with boost from data centers. Read here.
1606 Corp to acquire plot of land in Texas for AI data center development. Read here.
900 acre expansion to Alabama’s “Project Marvel” receives recommendation from planning commission. Read here.
Maricopa County greenlights massive AI data center project amid development boom. Read here.
US operator Skybox Datacenters has secured permission to develop a new facility around Austin, Texas. Read here.
Zeo Energy to supply 280MW of power for Creekstone Energy’s up to 10GW data center campus in Millard County, Utah. Read here.
San Marcos leaders reject plans to build controversial data center. Read here.
Zeo, Creekstone Plan 280 MW Behind-the-Meter Power for Utah AI Data Center. Read here.
4 million sq ft data center campus proposed outside Atlanta, Georgia. Read here.
Granger meeting draws crowd for update on large Microsoft data center planned. Read here.
Moratorium on large AI data centers in Maine under consideration. Read here.
‘A Big F*ck You to Big Tech’: New Jersey Residents Defeat AI Data Center. Read here.
Farmer Hailed as Hero for Rejecting Huge Payment to Turn His Land Into a Giant Data Center. Read here.
South America
Microsoft brings two data halls online in São Paulo, Brazil. Read here.
Mexico Data Centers Face Talent Gap, Threatening Growth. Read here.
Terranova launches in Mexico with its first data center campus. Read here.
Other interesting articles
Global Technology Leaders to Launch Trusted Tech Alliance. Read here.
Land Grab for Data Centers Is One More Obstacle to Much-Needed Housing. Read here.
Will rapid data center growth help Arizona? Examining the pros and cons. Read here.
Meet 16 Data Center Executives Leading the AI Buildout. Read here.
Elon Musk is pushing to build data centers in space. But they won’t solve AI’s power problems anytime soon. Read here.
Silicon Valley is building a shadow power grid for data centers across the U.S. Read here.
New Hyperscaler Self-Build Capacity Growth to Outpace Colocation Supply Growth in Europe. Read here.
Land, labour and lead times: The hard limits on the AI datacentre boom. Read here.
Inside Data Centre Podcast
How are European Data Center markets evolving? | Episode 2 - Live at KickStart Europe 2026. Listen here. Watch here.
Data Centre Club
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Have a news story to share? - andy.davis@dataxconnect.com
Have a great week.