JLL Data Centre Report Shows Middle East Pipeline Pause As FLAPD Grows
Data Center Dynamics reported that JLL's EMEA Mid-Year Data Centre Report 2026 put FLAPD live capacity at 3.8GW, while the Middle East had 2.6GW in development paused and 13.8GW in planning.
Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin reached 3.8GW of live data center capacity in the first half of 2026 and are on track for a record year, while the Middle East’s development pipeline has paused with 2.6GW of projects still in development.
Data Center Dynamics, citing JLL’s EMEA Mid-Year Data Center Report 2026, reported that the five European markets—known as FLAPD—could add another 453MW by the end of the year.
Paris led the first-half expansion, adding 75.2MW in H1 2026 and already exceeding its full-year forecast.
Across FLAPD, vacancy remains at 6.4 percent, indicating that new supply is still struggling to keep pace with demand.
FLAPD growth and Paris lead
AI is driving the expansion across EMEA.
High-performance computing workloads require larger sites, more power and faster delivery than traditional data centers, pushing operators to reconsider where facilities can be built.
Power and land constraints are shifting development away from established urban markets.
Greenfield projects now account for 39 percent of Europe’s future pipeline, compared with 8 percent over the past three years.
“The determining factor is increasingly where sufficient power can be secured, rather than simply where demand exists,” said Assad Noori, JLL’s head of data centers, work dynamics, EMEA.
“Data centers are being brought to where the power is, not the other way around.”
Middle East capacity on hold
The Middle East has 1.6GW of live capacity and a further 13.8GW in planning.
Regional conflict has stalled completions, but JLL expects the region to quadruple its capacity by 2030 because projects are being deferred rather than abandoned.
That pause affects the timing of delivery rather than the size of the longer-term pipeline.
The region’s planned capacity remains several times larger than its current live base.
AI reshapes power, land and investment
The four largest hyperscalers are expected to spend $725 billion during 2026, increasing capital expenditure by 77 percent year on year.
The overwhelming majority of that investment will go toward AI and data center infrastructure.
JLL estimates that AI workloads could account for around half of global data center capacity by 2030.
Europe’s core markets will remain important because enterprise demand continues, but AI facilities need a different scale of land and power, said Martin Jensen, EMEA division president for data centers at JLL.
Those requirements are accelerating investment in secondary markets, greenfield developments and new locations capable of supporting the next generation of AI capacity.
