Data Centre Watch

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88 entries matching · showing 1–15

1. 20 Oct 2026 Updated 23 Oct World Umatilla, Oregon, United States Reported

   Umatilla declares an emergency over the data-centre revenue it lost

   The city council in Umatilla, Oregon, voted 5-1 to declare a state of emergency after the governor paused state environmental permits for new data centres, citing about $6m in direct losses and threats to a police station and water infrastructure that data-centre revenue was paying for. Local officials across eastern and central Oregon say they were blindsided by the statewide pause, which followed concern about the industry's water and power demands.

   Why it matters: The mirror image of the industry's pitch for councils to keep data-centre business rates: revenue that arrives with the campus leaves with it, and the services it paid for stay.

   Source: Data Center Dynamics / Oregon Capital Chronicle [V]

2. 23 Oct 2026 World Gorodets, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia Reported

   Ukrainian drones hit Russia's federal tax data centre at Gorodets

   A government data centre operated by Russia's finance ministry and federal tax service in Gorodets, about 425km east of Moscow, was damaged in overnight drone strikes; the regional governor reported three injuries. Open since 2015, the site is one of two centres processing state registry and tax data in a geo-distributed setup, and the monitoring outlet ExileNova+ says damage there 'could potentially affect the operation of state information systems'. It is the latest in a campaign in which both sides have struck data centres: Kyiv's GigaCenter, Datagroup, Vodafone Ukraine and Odesa's Tenet have been hit, and Ukraine has struck Yandex and Sberbank facilities.

   Why it matters: Data centres are now military geography — and the further a site sits from the front, the more the 'critical infrastructure' label reads as a targeting list.

   Source: Data Center Dynamics [V]

3. 6 Oct 2026 Updated 22 Oct World Finland Delayed

   Finland halts Google data-centre work over missing impact assessments

   Finland's Licensing and Supervision Authority (LVV) ordered Google's Tuike Finland Oy to suspend preparatory works at its Muhos and Kajaani (Otanmäki) sites — part of a €13bn northern-Finland build — after 330 hectares of forest were felled at Muhos without a completed environmental impact assessment. The Guardian's 22 October investigation put the clearance at about 250,000 trees at Muhos and an estimated 150,000 more at Otanmäki, with the topsoil stripped and brown water running into a stream that feeds the Oulujoki river. Enforcement and a fine may follow: Google's country manager has apologised, the prime minister has called it a 'cold shower', and a petition for tighter rules and a compensation fee has passed 93,000 signatures. Separately, the plan's power draw (reportedly up to half of the Loviisa nuclear plant's output) is raising electricity-price concerns in Finland and Estonia.

   Why it matters: A regulator stopping the diggers — the 'assess it first' argument, actually enforced.

   Source: The Guardian [C]

   Changes (3)

   1. 22 Oct 2026 — Guardian investigation: about 250,000 trees felled at Muhos and an estimated 150,000 at Otanmäki; topsoil stripped, brown water reaching the Oulujoki; 93,000-signature petition; the prime minister calls it a 'cold shower'.
   2. 12 Oct 2026 — Added the power-price angle: local and Estonian electricity-price concern over the plan's grid draw.
   3. 6 Oct 2026 — First filed.
4. 21 Oct 2026 World Kyiv, Ukraine Reported

   Russian shelling damages Kyiv's GigaCenter data centre

   Russian shelling has damaged Kyiv's GigaCenter data centre, with service disruptions possible, according to Ukrainian reporting. It follows the pattern of the past month: Russia hit or disrupted 14 named Ukrainian operators from mid-September, and Ukraine struck three Yandex data centres in response.

   Why it matters: Data centres are now targets on both sides of the war — the argument Scotland's security debate is only beginning to absorb.

   Source: UA.NEWS / Interfax-Ukraine [C]

5. 21 Oct 2026 World Ashburn, Virginia, US Withdrawn

   Amazon withdraws Ashburn data-centre plan in deal with Loudoun County

   Amazon has withdrawn its proposal to build data centres on George Washington University's Loudoun County campus in Ashburn — the heart of the world's largest data-centre market — under an agreement with the county that pivots the site to mixed-use development, with a housing trust fund element reported. It lands as Loudoun runs its own 12-month moratorium and Virginia debates a three-year statewide pause.

   Why it matters: In the industry's capital, a hyperscaler has traded a campus for housing — the clearest sign yet that consent, not demand, is the binding constraint.

   Source: WTOP / Washington Business Journal [C]

6. 21 Oct 2026 World United States Reported

   A data centre that makes its own water from the air

   Austin-based Aquaria has opened applications for a 2027 pilot of 'Hydrogrid' — modular atmospheric water generators for data centres. Each 40-foot container produces up to 5,300 gallons a day and can be stacked; a 50-unit deployment could yield up to 265,000 gallons a day on under four acres, bolted onto existing storage and treatment without changing the cooling system. First units ship in Q3 2027. 'Water is now a schedule risk and an approval risk,' its chief executive says.

   Why it matters: The 'bring your own water' counterpart to on-site generation — a sign that water, like power, is becoming a supply the developer must secure before consent.

   Source: DCD / Aquaria [C]

7. 21 Oct 2026 World Australia Reported

   NEXTDC cuts guidance after Melbourne power delay

   Australian operator NEXTDC has cut its FY27 guidance after a power delay at its M3 data centre in Melbourne. A listed developer revising earnings because the grid did not arrive on time — the same failure mode as Nscale, now with a hard financial number attached.

   Why it matters: Power-delay risk is now showing up in guidance, not just project timelines.

   Source: Fool AU / ASX announcement [C]

8. 21 Oct 2026 World United States Policy

   Trump tells data centres to make their own power and pay a 'dividend'

   In a Truth Social post on 21 October, Trump said new and very large data centres should be required to produce their own electricity and supply or sell surplus to local communities or the grid, so they don't push up household bills. He also urged developers to pay a 'dividend' to the community or to individuals living nearby: 'Data Centers that were highly unpopular in a certain area, have become extremely popular when a financial deal is struck. MAKE DEALS, and get them built!!!'

   Why it matters: The 'own your power, pay your neighbours' formula now coming from the White House — and it treats consent as a price, not a process.

   Source: Economic Times / Times of India (Reuters) [C]

9. 18 Oct 2026 Updated 21 Oct World Essex, UK 90 MW Reported

   Microsoft pulls out of Nscale's Essex data-centre deal

   Microsoft has withdrawn from a deal at Nscale's flagship Loughton, Essex data centre — a setback for the British AI firm's multibillion-pound UK plans. Grid officials reportedly do not expect a power supply to the site until the 2030s, and Microsoft — about 40% of Nscale's contract revenue — was to rent 23,040 of Nvidia's GB300 GPUs from Q1 2027. Loughton formed part of the £22bn of investment pledged during Donald Trump's 2025 state visit and was billed as the UK's largest sovereign AI data centre. Nscale says it remains committed to the site and is exploring alternative power; it lands days after reports that its Norwegian flagship is six months late, ahead of a $35bn IPO. Microsoft has since said its £22bn UK investment plan is unchanged.

   Why it matters: The flagship UK AI site loses its anchor customer — the power problem and the money problem arriving together.

   Source: The Telegraph [C]

   Changes (3)

   1. 21 Oct 2026 — Added Microsoft's statement that its £22bn UK investment plan is unchanged despite the Loughton exit.
   2. 18 Oct 2026 — Added confirmed detail: power not expected until the 2030s; Microsoft was ~40% of Nscale revenue and was to rent 23,040 GB300 GPUs; Loughton was part of the £22bn Trump state-visit pledge.
   3. 18 Oct 2026 — First filed.
10. 7 Oct 2026 Updated 21 Oct World Tennessee, US Policy

    Memphis council rejects a long data-centre moratorium

    Memphis City Council first voted 7–5 to postpone a year-long moratorium on new data centres (Ordinance 5982) to its 20 October meeting, after a packed, protest-disrupted session; the city already hosts xAI's 'Colossus'. On 20 October it rejected the long pause on a tied vote and passed a shorter, amended moratorium instead. The fight has centred on Elon Musk's expansion — he now says he is staying in Memphis 'night and day' to guide the build-out.

    Why it matters: The US version of the local revolt: a city with a hyperscaler already running, asked by neighbours to stop the next one.

    Source: DCD [C]

    Changes (2)

    1. 21 Oct 2026 — Added the 20 Oct outcome: the long moratorium was rejected on a tied vote and a shorter amended pause passed instead; noted the xAI/Musk context.
    2. 7 Oct 2026 — First filed.
11. 9 Oct 2026 Updated 21 Oct World Australia Reported

    Nvidia-backed Firmus scraps its IPO over AI valuation doubts

    Firmus — which builds liquid-cooled 'AI factories' for OpenAI and Meta — pulled what would have been one of Australia's biggest-ever listings (a ~$30bn valuation), citing market volatility. A major pension fund declined to take part over valuation and debt concerns. The Tasmanian government has since given it a December deadline for its AUD 2bn Wesley Vale 'AI factory', which is still not fully funded, and the corporate regulator is making 'routine inquiries' after the float collapsed; the state premier continues to back the project.

    Why it matters: The money behind the build-out is wobbling — the financing side of the data-centre boom, not just the planning or the power.

    Source: BBC News [C]

    Changes (2)

    1. 21 Oct 2026 — Added the Tasmanian government's December deadline for the AUD 2bn Wesley Vale project, confirmation it is not yet fully funded, and the regulator's 'routine inquiries' after the float collapsed.
    2. 9 Oct 2026 — First filed.
12. 20 Oct 2026 World South Korea Reported

    South Korea's Elice plunges on debut, dragging data-centre stocks

    South Korean AI data-centre firm Elice fell by roughly 30–40% on its trading debut, pulling other data-centre stocks lower as investors reassessed the build-out's valuations. It comes in the same week that Nscale's $35bn US listing was knocked by the loss of its Microsoft anchor tenant.

    Why it matters: The market is now pricing the build-out's risk — the third signal this month (Firmus, Nscale, Elice) that the money side is cracking.

    Source: CNBC / FT / Telegraph [C]

13. 20 Oct 2026 World Virginia, US 3000 MW Submitted

    A $100bn, 21-building campus proposed in Virginia

    Stack Infrastructure has filed permits for 'Project Crossroads' at the Berry Hill megasite in Pittsylvania County, Virginia: 21 data-centre buildings built in phases over 15 years on about 2,990 acres, up to $100bn of investment (with at least $73.5bn binding), roughly 3,000MW of capacity — mostly generated on-site via two gas facilities — and up to 7 million gallons of water a day. It is described as the largest private single investment on record with Virginia's economic-development partnership.

    Why it matters: The scale keeps climbing: a single county campus now sized like a power system, with a water demand to match.

    Source: Cardinal News [C]

14. 19 Oct 2026 World Portugal Reported

    Portugal's health service lost prescriptions after a data-centre power failure

    Two successive power failures at SPMS’s data centre in northern Portugal took the National User Registry, the electronic prescription system (PEM) and access to health records offline nationwide from about 10am on 19 October. Staff could not see patient records or issue prescriptions; services were largely restored by 3pm. The doctors’ union FNAM is demanding an explanation, and SPMS says recovery-plan-funded infrastructure giving real-time redundancy will arrive by the end of 2026.

    Why it matters: The other half of the argument: the facilities being approved at gigawatt scale are single points of failure for public services, and here the fix was known — and unfunded until it broke.

    Source: Data Center Dynamics [V]

15. 19 Oct 2026 World Killala, County Mayo, Ireland Refused

    An Coimisiún Pleanála refuses Killala data centre over grid connection

    The board overturned Mayo County Council's permission for a data centre at the former Asahi site in Killala — a scheme reported at €1.5bn, and one that had drawn objections including from Sally Rooney. A key reason given was the absence of a grid connection, which the developer could not obtain until planning was granted: councillor Jarlath Munnelly said the decision had 'delivered a worrying message', and council chief executive Kevin Kelly called it 'a very disappointing outcome'.

    Why it matters: The grid-versus-planning circularity in a single decision: you cannot get a connection without permission, and you cannot get permission without a connection.

    Source: Western People (Local Democracy Reporting) [V]