Datacentre Groups Proposed Locating Facilities at Grid Hubs
Proposed co-location at renewable sites aims to address grid congestion and support offshore wind financing.
Updated on Sept. 29, 2026 in Data Centers
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European datacentre associations have proposed moving facilities to renewable energy generation sites to alleviate severe grid congestion. This industry-led effort seeks to consume power directly at coastal landing points where current demand remains insufficient for project financing.
Why it matters
Grid operators currently face high costs and technical hurdles transporting power from offshore wind farms to inland demand centers. By moving energy-intensive facilities to the source, the industry hopes to stabilize the grid and unlock stagnant infrastructure projects.
The Netherlands reported 15,000 pending grid connection applications at the end of 2025, while the 1GW Nederwiek I-A offshore wind tender received zero applications. This performance gap underscores the challenge of balancing transmission capacity with regional power demand.
The players
Vertiv
A provider of critical digital infrastructure and continuity solutions for datacentres, including power, cooling, and IT management systems.
TenneT
A European electricity transmission system operator managing high-voltage grids across the Netherlands and Germany.
The details
By locating datacentres at energy generation sites, facilities can consume electricity directly at the point of origin, reducing the load on regional transmission lines. These facilities could further serve as grid-balancing assets by utilizing backup power capacity and on-site battery storage to manage supply during peak demand periods. This strategy addresses the bottleneck where grid operators struggle to transport power from North Sea wind farms to distant inland population centers.
Timeline
End of 2025: Over 15,000 applicants joined the Dutch grid connection queue.
January 2026: Ireland published its Large Energy User Action Plan to manage grid impact.
2026: Vertiv held its Vertiv Week 2026 industry event in Zagreb.
The Tech Race
This proposal reflects a broader shift toward integrating power-intensive computing with infrastructure development, following the regulatory guidance set by the Irish government's Large Energy User Action Plan. The effort places the industry in a race to secure energy-adjacent sites before transmission constraints trigger further development moratoriums.
This transition will likely shift the geographic focus of new infrastructure deployments toward coastal regions near offshore wind landing points. While the policy change is in the proposal stage, it sets the groundwork for future datacentre siting requirements and potential changes to regional electricity pricing.
The takeaway
The industry is pivoting from seeking grid capacity to actively participating in energy infrastructure development. Stakeholders should track upcoming adjustments to regional wind tender terms, which may signal whether government subsidies will soon favor projects with integrated, on-site energy demand.
Further reading
For more on the challenges of balancing infrastructure capacity with sector growth, see our analysis on Data Centers.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Computer Weekly.
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Should governments prioritize building datacentres near renewable energy sites to reduce grid congestion?
