What the region's good for#
In Europe's biggest markets, getting power is harder than paying for it. Dublin, Amsterdam, London and Frankfurt have all restricted or slowed big new grid connections since 2019.
Business power prices vary about 2× across the EU (Eurostat, second half of 2025). What that means for you: the network hubs are in the core, and the room to grow is on the edges.
The markets (39)#
- London. Home to LINX, one of Europe's largest neutral exchanges. West London's grid has been effectively full since 2022, with multi-year waits for big connections (Greater London Authority, 2023).
- Frankfurt. Home to DE-CIX, one of the world's largest exchanges. Power in the city is tight, so new supply is moving out to Hanau, Hattersheim and Offenbach. Germany had the EU's third-highest business power price (H2 2025).
- Amsterdam. Home to AMS-IX. The area has restricted new data centers since 2019, and since 2024 the Netherlands bars the biggest new campuses outside a few designated areas.
- Paris. France's main hub, with France-IX, and one of the five core markets feeling the grid squeeze.
- Dublin. Scarce and expensive. EirGrid stopped taking new Dublin data center applications in 2022. Since December 2025, new projects must bring on-site generation or batteries for their full demand. Ireland had the EU's highest business power price, about €0.255/kWh (H2 2025).
- Madrid. One of Europe's fastest-growing markets, because power is easier to get. It was expected to pass 100 MW of supply by the end of 2025.
- Milan. The same story as Madrid: fast growth on easier power, expected to pass 100 MW by end of 2025.
- Warsaw. Growing on available power, land and incentives.
- Helsinki. Finland had the EU's lowest business power price in H2 2025, and the cold climate cools buildings for free much of the year. The trade-off is distance from the core.
- Marseille. Europe's most-connected city by subsea cable, with about 12 landings. It's the gateway to Africa, the Middle East and Asia.
- Lisbon. Cables landing here and at nearby Sines (EllaLink, 2Africa, Medusa, Nuvem) link Europe with Africa, Brazil and the US.
Also covered here:
- Manchester
- Zurich
- Düsseldorf
- Berlin
- Brussels
- Hamburg
- Eastern Netherlands
- Birmingham, UK
- Munich
- Stockholm
- Barcelona
- Geneva
- Istanbul
- Stuttgart
- Bristol
- Copenhagen
- Vienna
- Nice / Sophia Antipolis
- Sofia
- Besançon
- Bordeaux
- Genoa
- Hannover
- Leipzig
- Lyon
- Nuremberg
- Portsmouth, UK
- Strasbourg
Don't see your city? Tell us where you need to be, and we'll show you what's within reach.
What to watch#
- Ask about power first. In the core markets, a building's grid connection matters more than its rent.
- Keep a network foot in the core. DE-CIX, LINX and AMS-IX still anchor Europe's connectivity, even where power is tight.
- Look north for cheaper, cleaner power, largely hydro and wind, and weigh the extra distance.
- Reaching Africa, the Middle East or Latin America? Start with Marseille or Lisbon.
- Ask for the energy numbers. EU data centers of 500 kW and up report energy data each year, so a provider should have theirs ready.
Common questions#
Why is it hard to get data center power in Europe?#
Where is data center power cheapest in Europe?#
Why you ask every provider at once#
Power, capacity and incentives in this region are shifting month to month. What a provider told you last quarter may not hold today.
That's why one conversation at a time is a slow, risky way to buy. Scope your project once in Clectiv AI and it goes to work for you, getting bids from every provider that fits, with current pricing and availability straight from them. You get real answers in days, not months.