European AI data centre signings quadruple to 420MW

Signings for European colocation capacity intended for AI more than quadrupled in the first half of 2026, as neocloud providers secured larger commitments to support growing compute requirements.

According to CBRE in its European Data Centres Figures Q2 2026 report, 420MW of capacity was signed by neocloud providers during the first six months of the year, up from 89MW during the same period in 2025. The company described the increase as a sign of rising business demand for AI services across Europe.

The growth came as the geography of European data centre development continued to change. Of the Q2 2026 total, 37% of supply, or 252MW, was delivered in FLAPD. Secondary and tertiary markets accounted for most new capacity delivered during the quarter, with power availability increasingly influencing where operators build.

Neoclouds Secured Capacity at Greater Scale

CBRE attributed the increase in AI-focused signings to emerging infrastructure providers, often described as neoclouds, striking larger deals to secure capacity.

The firm said around 66% of the capacity contracted by neoclouds or set to be built for them was located in the Nordic region, where the report highlights greater availability of lower-cost renewable power.

CBRE also said data centre providers are now more comfortable with the financial terms attached to neocloud customers than they were two years ago. Operators had previously used measures including rental deposits and letters of credit to mitigate risk and support transactions.

“Neoclouds have emerged as viable occupiers who are taking capacity at scale in markets typically where lower-cost power is the norm,” said Andrew Jay, Head of Data Centre Solutions, Europe at CBRE. “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 of European Data Centre Research at CBRE, added that several neocloud companies now had investment-grade customers, helping them secure capacity for 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,” added Restivo.

Neoclouds Secured Capacity at Greater Scale

CBRE said 685MW of colocation and hyperscaler self-build capacity was delivered during Q2, almost three times the Q1 total.

Of that, 433MW, or 63%, was delivered outside Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin, the five markets grouped by CBRE as FLAPD.

Demand followed a similar pattern. CBRE said markets outside FLAPD accounted for 55% of Q2 take-up, with growth recorded in locations including Groningen, Brussels, Barcelona, and Norway.

CBRE said scalable power was more readily available in many of these markets and often came at a lower energy cost than in FLAPD.

Core Markets Remained Constrained

Europe’s established data centre hubs continued to face a different challenge.

CBRE identified a lack of available power as the primary reason for the supply-demand imbalance in Europe, making it difficult for developer-operators to deliver new facilities quickly.

The colocation vacancy rate across FLAPD fell to just below 8% in Q2, from 8.3% in the previous quarter.

Frankfurt provided the clearest example. Its wholesale vacancy rate fell to 4.6%, the lowest across FLAPD, while CBRE said securing power and land for new construction remained particularly difficult.

Despite those constraints, demand continued. CBRE recorded more take-up in Frankfurt between 2021 and 2026 than in any other European market.

Paris Showed Demand Remained Strong in Core Hubs

Paris provided a counterpoint to the growth of secondary locations.

CBRE said take-up reached only 7MW during the first half of 2026, while no new supply was delivered during Q2. It nevertheless forecast 138MW of take-up for the full year, which would represent a record for the market.

The expected increase was being driven primarily by hyperscaler, sovereign cloud, and sovereign AI demand.

CBRE also forecast 143MW of new Paris supply across 2026, showing that substantial capacity could still be delivered in established markets despite a comparatively subdued first half.

The move towards power-rich secondary markets was therefore not replacing demand for Europe’s largest hubs. Both were growing, but under different infrastructure constraints.

European Capacity Headed Towards 13GW

CBRE forecasts total European data centre supply will reach 13GW by the end of 2026, supported partly by record hyperscaler self-build activity.

Hyperscaler self-build capacity is expected to reach 4.3GW, up 22% from 2025, while European colocation capacity is forecast to reach 8.7GW.

CBRE expects hyperscalers to deliver 777MW of new self-build supply during the year as they expand cloud regions and deploy more equipment dedicated to AI.

The surge in AI-focused signings shows where an increasing share of new demand is coming from. The bigger shift is geographic.

As neoclouds and hyperscalers seek capacity at greater scale, power availability is increasingly determining where Europe’s next wave of data centre growth can be delivered.