2026年数据中心趋势报告

Contents Industry FocusFocus on EMEA28 0 Foreword: More growth, greater efficiency Data Centre Trends 20261The 2026 Ten Trends6 Trend 4: Industrialisation revolution13Trend 5: Gas is back in fashion15Trend 6: Breakthrough cooling solutions17Trend 7: Rare earth elements become rarer19Trend 8: The race for faster permitting21Trend 9: New chips on menu23Trend 10: The year to get quantum ready25 Shifting up a gear53Our Authors54 Foreword More growth, greater efficiency most active in the data centre market - although, there are new pins inour map almost every week. There are few regions in the world wheredata centre construction will not ramp up over the next 10 years.These multi-front growth ambitions have exacerbated the challenges how do we pick up the pace in this accelerating sector?The last 12 months have been exciting, to say the least. Multiple new players have joined the game, with one of thebiggest stories of the year being Oracle’s meteoric rise tobecome the world’s fourth largest hyperscaler.And while much of the mainstream talk has been about thethat the sector was already facing. Perhaps the most wicked of theseis how countries will power their growing data centre infrastructure.In the shorter term, the industry is already coming up with solutions, protecting constrained grids by adding more renewable energysources and turning to natural gas as a supplementary power source.Looking only 12 months ahead, perhaps the biggest constraint is multi-gigawatt ambitions for AI data centres, existing datacentre markets continue to expand. Some countries areonly starting to develop their cloud data centres, while otherscontinue on that journey. Edge data centres are growing withthe spread of 5G. And, once AI models have been trained inlarge, out-of-town data centres, we will need to find spacefor inference data centres – close to cities and industrialhubs – to run those models.people. General contractors (GCs), mechanical and electricalcontractors (MEP), construction and project managers, quantitysurveyors and commissioning experts with the track record to handlethese complex projects are in short supply. And, given the ambitionsof many data centre developers to compress time spent on site,this is no market for novices. A year for change Which brings me to our biggest story of 2025: Sobenbecame part of Accenture in March. We have always beenfocused on finding ways to disrupt how capital projectsare delivered – creating better outcomes for our clients ina rapidly-changing market. Our alliance brings togetherAccenture’s vision of reinvention and digitalisation withSoben’s industry expertise and commercial experience.It is already exciting to see how our teams are workingtogether to combine delivery experience and new,AI-based tools to help our clients meet these challengeshead on. 2026, we are ready for you!Scott Smyth, December 2025 usual. Change is already coming to every element of datacentre development from the chips and equipment theydeploy, to land searches, permitting and regulations; fromstandardisation and automation of design to AI-optimisedscheduling and modular builds.In Europe, regulation is pushing greater energy efficiency in operation and low water usage. In othermarkets, ‘sustainability’ wears a different face, but theneed to conserve power and water is just as great – out ofnecessity and to keep local politicians, communities and,in some cases, investors on side.Underpinning these shifts is the move towards digital construction and the use of AI to create more efficientprocesses. We cannot create experienced planners,construction professionals and electrical specialistsovernight. But we can use the people we have moreefficiently. Founder and CEOSoben part of Accenture The needfor speed Speed equals revenue - whoever winsthe speed race wins the revenue.Businesses still need to track their capexspending, but schedule is the priorityover cost at the moment. > Supply chains choosing projects> Higher construction costs Both established players and newcomers are lookingto shift left, with incredibly ambitious timelines for theirprojects. And some have plans to deliver severalprojects in parallel.Back in 2018, it may have been possible to construct a are looking to deploy. These include standardised design elements,more use of prefabricated elements and modular construction, andvirtually constructing data centres using 3D design and BIM to de-riskbuilds before work starts on site.The key to deploying such measures is a mature and competent 400MW data centre in around 12 months. Today, witha shortage of contractors with data centre experience,longer equipment lead times and supply side powerconstraints in many parts of the world, this is a huge ask.For new entrants to the data centre developmentmarket, who don’t have established supply chains,it may be impossible. supply chain. In existing data centre markets, general contractors(GCs) and mechanical, electrical and plumbing