January 23, 2026

Top news (3)

• Finland: a very large new pipeline signal near Helsinki.DayOne plans 560 MW data center project near Helsinki — early-stage plan for a phased campus in Klaukkala, Nurmijärvi (~30 km north of Helsinki) with up to 560 MW of total grid power potential. DayOne has a site agreement with Fortum to support zoning and grid connection planning; announcement follows >$2bn Series C equity and references an existing $1.4bn Lahti hyperscale project plus an up-to-$1.2bn mezzanine facility (Dec 2025).
• UK: planning risk increases for a large 90 MW project.UK says error in approving 90 MW Woodlands Park data centre — government accepted a “serious logical error” and that permission should be quashed; developer Greystoke Land will defend. Legal challenge brought by Foxglove and Global Action Plan after Angela Rayner overruled Buckinghamshire Council’s refusal.
• US (Virginia): potential new approvals gate for large-load facilities.Virginia group urges support for HB155/SB619 to oversee data centers — proposal would require new “high-load” facilities >25 MW to obtain an SCC Certificate of Operation assessing ratepayer, grid reliability, and environmental impacts; PECVA cites 500+ existing data centers and typical new proposals of 60–90 MW.

Key deals & projects (by region)

Europe

• Finland (Helsinki metro): hyperscale campus concept with Fortum support.DayOne plans 560 MW data center project near Helsinki — up to 560 MW grid power potential (phased); Fortum site agreement for zoning and grid connection planning.
• UK (Buckinghamshire): Woodlands Park 90 MW project faces court-driven uncertainty.UK says error in approving 90 MW Woodlands Park data centre — permission expected to be quashed due to acknowledged error; developer defending.

North America

• US (market view + services M&A): execution risk now the constraint.CBRE: Power Constraints Redefine 2026 U.S. Data Centers — CBRE says developers are prioritising sites able to support 300 MW+ deliveries within ~36 months; preleasing expected mid-70%. CBRE also acquired Pearce Services for ~$1.2bn + up to $115m earn-out; Pearce projected > $660m revenue and > $90m EBITDA in 2026.
• US (Arizona): power supply agreement upheld for proposed data center.Regulators keep TEP data center energy agreement in place — Arizona Corporation Commission said its Dec 2025 approval of Tucson Electric Power’s Energy Supply Agreement for Beale Infrastructure remains in place; separate court action seeks to void earlier rezoning.

Asia

• Thailand (cloud region capex): major in-country build.Google Cloud launches $1B Thailand cloud region in Bangkok — $1bn investment for a Bangkok cloud region; Google estimates THB 1.4tn (~$41bn) economic value over five years and 130,000 jobs/year.
• India (Mumbai region): long-horizon capital mobilisation for data centres.RMZ to invest up to $30 billion in Mumbai region — partnership with MMRDA and CIDCO to facilitate up to $30bn investment over 10 years; includes data centre and commercial projects in Navi Mumbai starting FY 2026–27.
• India (Uttar Pradesh): large AI compute hub MoU (early-stage).AM Group, Uttar Pradesh sign $25bn AI compute hub MoU — $25bn MoU to develop AI compute hub; aims at large-scale compute infrastructure plus skill development and energy-efficient operations.
• Malaysia (critical power chain partnership): UPS and power management focus.Bridgenet and Eaton partner to bolster Malaysian data centre infrastructure — collaboration to deliver UPS, power distribution, monitoring, and lifecycle services.

Power, grid, and interconnection highlights

Grid capacity and “behind-the-meter” approaches

• UK: unlocking distribution capacity with local generation + storage.Masdar and Octopus Energy sign MoUs for UK and Africa — MoUs to unlock UK distribution network capacity for data centres using local solar-plus-storage; Octopus to use Kraken to manage on-site generation, batteries and grid usage.

Storage cost trajectory and equipment signals

• Long-duration storage cost-down expectations (relevance to firming high-load growth).EPRI study finds LDES costs could fall ~37% by 2030 — EPRI finds average LDES costs could decline ~37% by 2030; examples include 100 MW / 10-hour intraday electrochemical: $244–358/kWh and 10 MW / 100-hour multi-day: $26–38/kWh.
• C&I BESS product update (applicable to on-site resilience / peak management).Hoymiles launches HoyUltra 2 liquid-cooled ESS for C&I — 261 kWh per unit, parallel scalable; claims include 90.3% round-trip efficiency, operation to 50°C, certifications IP55 and C5.

Policy and regulation watch

United States

• Virginia: potential new approval regime for large-load developments.Virginia group urges support for HB155/SB619 to oversee data centers — would require SCC Certificate of Operation for new facilities >25 MW; framed around ratepayer, reliability, and environmental impact assessment.
• Pennsylvania / PJM: cost-allocation and ratepayer protection debate.Pennsylvania advocates urge taxing data centers to lower bills — consumer advocates and PUC chair urge taxing data centers so ratepayers don’t fund grid upgrades; PJM warns peak loads will rise significantly over 15 years; discussion includes a PJM price cap extension projected to save ~$27bn region-wide over two years (including $5bn for Pennsylvania).
• Arizona: regulatory approval stands (but parallel legal risk remains).Regulators keep TEP data center energy agreement in place — ACC approval remains effective after rehearing window lapsed; separate court challenge targets rezoning.

United Kingdom

• Planning permission vulnerability for a 90 MW scheme.UK says error in approving 90 MW Woodlands Park data centre — acknowledged government error creates a precedent risk for other contested approvals.

India

• Rajasthan: improved supply resilience option for high-load users (but at customer cost).Rajasthan allows dual power supply for high-load consumers — rules allow HT/EHT consumers to take dual feeder supply (simultaneous or standby). Consumers bear full extension costs and face charging of double the applicable plant cost; tariffs to be decided separately.

Technology and supply-chain signals (relevant to capex/ops risk)

• Storage supply constraint and pricing pressure.Dell PowerScale scales amid flash supply constraints for AI — cites reported flash price increases of 60–120% and expects HDD:all-flash cost ratio to shift from 1:4 to 1:10 this year; highlights auto-tiering across NVMe/hybrid/HDD.
• French public funding for AI interconnect R&D.France funds CanopAI photonic interconnects for AI datacenters — Scintil Photonics, Presto Engineering, and CEA-Leti awarded funding under France 2030 i-Demo (Bpifrance) to develop photonic ICs and dense optical GPU-to-GPU interconnects; aims to prepare for 300 mm wafer manufacturing.

Two-line close

Large-load development continues to scale, but project viability is increasingly shaped by permitting, grid access, and cost-allocation politics.
Behind-the-meter generation/storage and execution capability (delivery timelines, services depth) are becoming core differentiators across markets.