F E A T U R E

We asked data centre experts what trends are expected to emerge in the market in 2025 . From the increasing adoption of AI-driven operations to the rise of sustainable practices , their insights reveal how technological advancements and environmental considerations are shaping the future of data centres . Here ' s what industry leaders predict for the year ahead .

Ali Greenwood , Executive Director , Cushman & Wakefield

For global data centre markets , the pace of change is frenetic but there ’ s at least one constant . Power demand is unsatiable .

The top challenge for data centres and data centre development is the lack of available energy generation and capable power distribution networks . It ’ s an issue that ’ s top of mind for developers , investors and end-users – and there ’ s no quick or easy fix .

There are very few areas in the US , Canada and Europe that have both generation surplus and capable transmission to meet the large-scale data centre demand . Compounding this , at every step , are the NIMBYs , the overwhelming majority of whom embrace the technology that ’ s dependent on data centres but seem to slow many projects to a crawl . If we want to see high-tech industries succeed and continue to create jobs , we need to start talking about solutions for our power problems .

There ’ s no single answer but there are existing , innovative and sustainable technologies that can both ease the burden on power grids and support data centre demand and development .

Solar , wind and existing nuclear power options are good but have their pros and cons . Solar and wind , of course , require tremendous amounts of land to achieve scale . With nuclear power , we ’ ve seen Microsoft announce plans to fund reopening Three Mile Island ’ s reactor , and we ’ ve also seen the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission throw a wrench in proposed interconnection service agreement ( ISA ) plans related to data centres .

Though nascent in the US , we ’ re increasingly seeing hydrogen fuel cells at a significant scale evaluated and used to power data centres in other countries . Similarly , we ’ re seeing small modular nuclear reactors emerge as a

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