The European Information Centre Affiliation (EUDCA) lately launched its 2026 State of European Information Centres Report, highlighting modifications within the area’s knowledge centre panorama. Constructing on final yr, the present knowledge illustrates a shift from hub-centric growth in direction of a extra distributed, energy-integrated, and AI-driven digital ecosystem.
Europe’s knowledge centre sector is present process growth and technical evolution, pushed by AI hyper-development. This development, nevertheless, faces constraints because of vitality availability and entry. The EUDCA report signifies development past conventional hubs corresponding to Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin (FLAP-D), with growth decentralising throughout Southern Europe, the Nordics, Central and Jap Europe (CEE), and chosen Tier2 metropolitan areas.
Information centres, transitioning from cloud-led development to AI calls for, at the moment are acknowledged as vital infrastructure for Europe’s competitiveness and safety. European IT capability rose from 10,539 MW in 2023 to 14,784 MW in 2025, surpassing predictions. A €176bn in funding is anticipated from 2026 to 2031.
Scale colocation campuses and AI-optimised amenities are prevalent in new infrastructure developments. With a compound annual development fee (CAGR) exceeding 25% anticipated by way of 2031, conventional retail and wholesale websites are increasing slower as prospects demand AI-ready environments.
Key development drivers embrace hyperscale knowledge centres and the arrival of ‘neoclouds’, offering ultra-high-density compute energy for AI builders and rising cloud-adjacent platforms.
Power limitations pose an business problem, with two-thirds of operators itemizing energy availability as prime concern. AI clusters elevating rack densities past 100kW immediate the necessity for design and operational diversifications, together with liquid cooling architectures.
The socioeconomic contribution of the info centre business stays vital, with the sector contributing €53bn to GDP in 2025, anticipated to rise to €137.5bn by 2031. Straight supporting over 300,000 expert jobs, amenities additionally profit native communities by way of district heating assist and renewable energy agreements.
Amidst regulatory expectations, the business embraces the Power Effectivity Directive (EED), guaranteeing harmonised reporting and transparency. Ninety % of vitality utilized by European centres now comes from renewable sources.
Progress round water utilization and warmth reuse is notable, with examples seen throughout Europe. EUDCA Secretary Basic Michael Winterson remarked on Europe’s potential to play a major function in AI-ready infrastructure as soon as vitality challenges are addressed.
The report emphasises the necessity for business collaboration with policymakers for improved grid funding and reform, that are pivotal for evolving Europe’s strategic and sustainable digital economic system.
