€23.5bn for data centres: grid connections now decide location
Investment in German data centres will reach €23.5bn in 2026, 57% more than in 2025, according to Bitkom and the Borderstep Institute; AI's share of capacity is set to rise to 55% by 2035.
The AI build-out has reached Germany: investment in data centres is jumping to a record. Yet about 80% of operators name a lack of grid connections as the biggest obstacle.
What happened
The study, presented on 3 November by Bitkom, Germany's digital-industry association, puts 2026 investment at €23.5bn, after €15bn in 2025 and €12.9bn in 2024. About €18bn goes on servers and storage, €5.5bn on buildings and equipment. Connected IT load stands at 3,300 megawatts, of which 670MW, or 20%, is for AI and high-performance computing. The study expects about 5,500MW by 2030; the federal government is aiming for around 6,000MW. Data centres will use about 23bn kilowatt-hours of electricity in 2026, as much as roughly 6.5m households, rising to 35bn-38bn by 2030. Hesse has about 1,200MW in operation and 2,000MW under construction. Brandenburg has only 104MW running but 1,301MW being built. By international standards Germany remains small: America had about 47 gigawatts in 2025, China 22.
What follows
Data centres are becoming a locational factor, as motorways and ports once were. Sites with a grid connection can build; those without must wait. Regions with spare lines and land stand to gain, notably in the north and in Brandenburg, as do grid operators, electrical engineering and construction. For firms wanting to run AI within Germany, capacity will stay scarce and probably costly. Bitkom wants cheaper power, more land and faster permits. Ralf Wintergerst, its president, says that falling behind on infrastructure means quickly losing ground in AI as well. Assessment: investment and targets still diverge; the gap of about 500MW by 2030 depends mainly on the power grid.
What changes in practice
- Companies
- AI computing capacity in Germany is growing but stays scarce; data-centre contracts become a question of location.
- Municipalities and regions
- Those offering grid access and land attract billions in investment; waste heat can feed district heating.
- Electricity customers
- Data-centre consumption is set to rise by over half by 2030; grid expansion and network charges come into focus.
What to watch
- Waiting times for grid connections and decisions by grid operators
- Implementation of the federal AI strategy and its permit deadlines
- Construction progress of the projects in Brandenburg and Hesse
Sources
- Bitkom: KI-Boom treibt Rechenzentren in Deutschland, 3.11.2026
- cash.ch (AWP): KI-Boom lässt Strombedarf von deutschen Rechenzentren stark steigen, 3.11.2026
- it-daily: Rechenzentren: Rekordinvestitionen von 23,5 Milliarden Euro, 4.11.2026