5 Notable Data Center Links, Jan. 10 2026
A Data Center 'Investment Supercycle,' Onsite Power Boom, Projects Hit Delays
This week we’ve got highlights from the 2026 trends and predictions shared by industry watchers. Note: Our 2026 Forecast coverage was delayed slightly and will commence this week.
Each week I curate 5 links from the data center sector that I find particularly interesting, with my commentary on why they merit your attention.
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5 Notable Links
JLL 2026 Global Data Center Outlook - Advisory firm JLL says the data center sector is experiencing an infrastructure “investment supercycle” requiring up to $3 trillion by 2030. Roughly 100 gigawatts (GWs) of new capacity is anticipated to come online between 2026 and 2030, equating to $1.2 trillion in real estate asset value creation. Tenants will likely spend an additional $1 to $2 trillion to fit out their space with IT equipment, JLL projects. “The interconnected nature of data centers means the AI-fueled expansion is reshaping a number of sectors including power, technology and real estate,” says JLL.
Eight Trends That Will Shape the Data Center Industry in 2026 - The annual Data Center Frontier forecast (which I launched back in 2018) focuses on how AI is shaping the sector. Editor Matt Vincent notes the growing distinction between specialized AI Factories and general purpose data centers supporting cloud and enterprise. “In 2026, the question is no longer just whether ‘data centers’ are straining the grid,” Matt writes. “It is which class of data center, under what assumptions, and at what scale.”
Top 5 Trends Reshaping Global Infrastructure Decisions - Research firm DCByte says “projects are increasingly stalling in the middle of the development pipeline,” leaving a substantial gap between supply that has been announced and projects that are actually under construction. This shouldn’t surprise anyone who has been watching the market closely. DCByte cites delays in power connections, permitting, and long lead times for critical equipment as key factors.
2026: The Gigawatt Era Begins (AFCOM) - My friend Bill Kleyman shares the findings from the AFCOM’s upcoming State of the Data Centers 2026 report. The headline for me was this tidbit: “Our report shows that 66 percent of respondents are considering or already deploying on site power generation, including microgrids and localized generation,” Bill shares. That’s even higher than I expected. AI also makes its presence felt in the average rack density, whcih is now 27 KW per rack, and heading higher.
Top 5 Data Center Industry Trends and Predictions for 2026 - In her monthly column at DCF, Melissa Reali also highlights on-site power as the trend to watch. “By the end of 2026, the most competitive AI campuses will behave less like data center loads and more like integrated energy assets, with dedicated microgrids, dispatch rights, and explicit carbon performance targets baked into financing and customer contracts,” Melissa writes.
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Great roundup on the infrastructure supercycle. The 66% figure on on-site power generation is wild and makes sense given how grid constraints have become the main bottelneck. I've seen similar patterns in logistics infrastructure where once transport capacity maxes out, companies start building their own. The gap between announced projects and actual construction also tracks what happened in the early cloud boom. Good signal to watch.