EM3 Research Report
The State of Data Centres in Europe 2026
Energy, grid capacity, sustainability and growth trends shaping the next phase of European data centre strategy.

What's inside
A clear read on where the market is going
Not generic sustainability messaging. A research-led overview built for data centre and infrastructure teams, connecting market growth, grid capacity and energy demand back to the practical questions operators now need to answer.
Executive summary
The key European data centre growth, capacity and energy findings, up front.
The European landscape
Established hubs, emerging markets and the pace of hyperscale growth across the continent.
Where the energy actually goes
How power is used inside a data centre: IT load, cooling, electrical infrastructure and supporting systems.
Grid capacity, Europe's hardest constraint
Connection delays, power availability and the pressure AI-driven demand is adding to already-tight grids.
Ireland deep dive
Market concentration, electricity demand, major operators and the future capacity pressure on the grid.
Regulation and compliance
The European and Irish requirements shaping reporting, approvals and future growth.
How the industry is responding
Monitoring, optimisation, demand reduction, onsite generation, storage and resilience planning in practice.
Operator questions for the webinar
Load visibility, avoidable demand, optimisation headroom, onsite generation and what a grid-ready site looks like.
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