Many data centre projects running late

Nearly two in five data centre projects due in 2026 are now expected to open at least three months late. (networkworld.com) The estimate comes from a Financial Times analysis published April 22 that used SynMax satellite imagery and IIR Energy permit and project data to track site work and foundations. Network World said the delayed projects include builds tied to Microsoft, Oracle and OpenAI. (networkworld.com) The same reporting found more than 60% of projects scheduled for 2027 had not started construction. Executives interviewed by the Financial Times cited shortages of labor, power and equipment, plus permitting delays. (networkworld.com) A data centre is a warehouse-sized building packed with servers, cooling gear and backup power. The current bottleneck is not demand for computing, but the slower work of getting land cleared, substations built and utility connections approved. (cbre.com) That squeeze has been building for months as artificial intelligence pushes developers toward much larger campuses. CBRE said the old 12-to-18-month schedule for buildings under 50 megawatts no longer fits projects that now target 500-megawatt-plus sites with multiple substations. (cbre.com) Power has become the first question in site selection. CBRE said operators now care more about securing 300 megawatts or more within 36 months than about fiber links, and new transmission or generation can stretch interconnection timelines to 24, 36 or even more than 48 months. (cbre.com) Consultant JLL said global data-centre capacity is still expected to nearly double from 103 gigawatts to 200 gigawatts by 2030, but it also said supply-chain and construction delays continued through 2025 and that tenants can no longer assume delivery dates without buffers. (jll.com) JLL said “hybrid portfolios” are becoming the default mix: companies spread workloads across their own server rooms, rented colocation space, hyperscale cloud sites and smaller edge facilities. That approach lets customers add capacity in pieces when one campus or one power connection is late. (jll.com) Utilities are under the same pressure. Deloitte said U.S. electricity demand began accelerating in 2025, peak demand could rise about 26% by 2035, and data-centre demand alone could reach 176 gigawatts by 2035 while new supply is still stuck in long interconnection queues. (deloitte.com) OpenAI told the Financial Times that its build-out was on schedule, and Oracle said each data centre it is developing for OpenAI was moving forward on time. Even so, the wider market is shifting from fast openings to phased rollouts, with software and contracts built around uneven site availability. (networkworld.com)