Poland Poland ready for data centre investment

The global data centre market is predicted to reach USD 600-700 bln by 2030, driven by the development of AI and cloud services. The report lists Warsaw, alongside Milan, Madrid, Zurich, and the Nordic countries, as one of the best locations for data centres. The current European hubs in Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin, known as the FLAP-D market, are losing their attractiveness due to regulation and growing difficulties with power supplies and new land.

We estimate that the global data centre market will grow at a double-digit rate over the coming years due to the increasing digitalisation of global economies. Poland, due to its favourable conditions and regulations, as well as its ambitious plans for energy transformation and development, has the potential to become one of the beneficiaries of this boom.
Agnieszka Skorupińska, partner leading the sustainable development and energy transition practice at Baker McKenzie Poland.

Ensuring a stable supply of clean and scalable energy is (in addition to legal regulations, tax incentives, and land availability) a key factor in selecting locations for new data centre projects. Energy consumption in data centres is 40 times higher than in other commercial properties, and it will continue to grow with the development of AI.

Poland is currently developing large-scale projects in the energy sector, which will be of crucial importance for attracting investors to energy-intensive industries, including the data centre sector. The growth of the renewable energy sector, as well as investments in nuclear energy and projects announced involving modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), are becoming extremely important for investors.
Weronika Achramowicz, managing partner of Baker McKenzie in Poland and co-head of the transaction practice.

Baker McKenzie also points out additional opportunities available to data centre investors in Poland. These opportunities involve the use of brownfield sites, which are often conveniently located and meet the requirements for data centres. Such projects can use locations near or within cities, which is important for being close to users and for efficiency. Sustainability and the search for solutions that will reduce their harm to the environment also play a significant role in data centre investment planning. Access to water used for cooling, waste management, and the removal of excess heat are all important considerations.

The growing scale of data centre projects is also changing the financing used for such capital-intensive projects, from a traditional model of capital raising to a more flexible approach. Joint venture partnerships and portfolio financing are gaining particular importance in the European market. At the same time, governments are increasingly using tax incentives as a tool to attract investment in the data centre sector, creating intense competition between different regions.

In today's AI-driven economy, the most important factors determining the development of data centres are access to power and capital, as well as legal regulations and permitting procedures. Investors who secure stable, scalable energy sources and can implement innovative, regionally tailored financing and partnership models will be able to capitalise on the coming wave of digital infrastructure development.
Weronika Guerquin-Koryzma, partner and head of the real estate practice at Baker McKenzie in Warsaw.