Overview
This quarter’s Knight Frank report focuses on the EMEA region, with a market analysis focus on the emerging data centre markets of Bucharest, Cairo, Casablanca, Istanbul, Johannesburg, Manchester, Munich, Nairobi, Vienna, Warsaw, and Zurich.
Total capacity across these markets has reached just over 1,577MW, following a Q2 uptick of 137.2MW. Growth between markets is varied, with strong growth registered in the Cairo, Istanbul, and Manchester markets. Higher rates of borrowing, coupled with limitations on local power networks and looming concerns of a recession, have temporarily dampened growth. Prospects do remain strong however, with Microsoft announcing plans to develop Vienna and Warsaw into ‘Data Centre Regions’, alongside Casablanca set to benefit from the Medusa subsea cable network in the coming years.
Of the markets observed this quarter, Istanbul saw the largest new supply at 59.2MW, primarily bolstered by Equinix announcing a new facility expected to deliver 28MW of IT capacity. Turkey has also commissioned the development of a new nuclear power plant, which will help meet the increasing power demands in the market.
Cairo registered a 37MW increase in new supply over the quarter, with UAE-based Khazna Data Centers announcing the development of a state-of-the-art facility costing $250 million. Also, with the development of the Medusa subsea cable expected to go live in Q4 2025, we expect to see more growth in the market, brought on by the promise of a more cost-efficient and high-speed data delivery network.
In Nairobi, we witnessed no new supply or major announcements this quarter. Casablanca experienced a similar absence. However, as with Cairo, Casablanca will also benefit from the Medusa Subsea cable, which will see an 8,700km 24-pair fiber optic cable offering 20 Tbsp of capacity per fiber pair, providing a strong basis for future demand and growth.
Kao Data recently announced a new 40MW facility in Manchester, with Microsoft expanding into Leeds. These reflect a trend of data centre demand in the UK spilling North, with Manchester tipped to experience significant growth in upcoming years.
Warsaw and Vienna have recorded limited market activity in Q2, with power limitations placing constraints on new data centre development. However, both feature in Microsoft’s plans for developing new ‘Data Centre Regions’. In Warsaw, Microsoft have developed a 38MW Poland Central Campus, whilst in Vienna, Microsoft’s deployment in Achua is expected to stimulate growth in the market.
