The pace of digitalisation could be decelerated by data centre supply chain shortages and disruptions in Europe, according to new research by leading construction and property management consultant, Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB).
The research surveyed 475 executives from data centre operators and contractors across the UK and Europe – including qualitative interviews with Mercury Engineering, Ada Infrastructure, Mace Technology and Manufacturing and Equinix – and found that 70% of the respondents agree that supply chain shortages and disruptions will limit digitalisation in Europe in the next five years.
With the most likely disruptions, with the most impact to the data centre construction supply chain, expected to be:
- Increased environmental regulation – 60%
- Disruptions from physical climate risk – 57%
- Geopolitical disruption – 56%
- Supply chain labour shortages – 49%
- Exchange rate fluctuations – 46%
- Armed conflict – 34%
Liquid cooling to support sustainability targets
The research shows that by 2030, 58% of data centres are predicted to be using liquid cooling, with immersion liquid cooling the most likely adopted solution.
This move to liquid cooling could help many data centre clients meet their sustainability targets which presently only half of respondents admit to having put plans into effect. Only four-in-10 respondents have adopted on-site renewable generation to date and fewer still presently scrutinise the environmental performance of suppliers (37%), measure and reduce the embodied carbon of material (31%) or select materials that boost energy efficiency (25%).
Investor impact
Over half (56%) of respondents agree that investors in data centre projects will lose out unless the construction supply chain is improved. This is leading to 66% of contractors and 47% of operators using contractual measures to share supply chain risk with their counterparties.
Location, location, location
Around two-fifths (42%) of respondents also noted that they or their customers are more likely to choose ‘new and alternative’ destinations as a result of supply chain constraints with Italy (65%), Germany (58%) and France (54%) the most likely destinations.
But the main constraint to growth is the availability of power with very few countries within the EU and the UK that are actively aligning data centre industry growth and national infrastructure development. Constraints on electrical networks have been further compounded by a shift from energy deriving fossil fuels (such as natural gas, diesels and gasoline) and exponential increased demand on the electrical networks.
“The results of our research show a sector that is growing at an exponential rate and one which the supply chain needs to keep up with,” said Andrew Fettes-Brown, RLB Global Board Director, Head of Data Centres at RLB UK and Europe. “Add this to the governance around sustainability and pressure from investors around ESG measures, we need to look at a flexible design approach that allows operators to maintain construction in face of uncertainty in the market with modular design and prefabricated components supporting this agility.”
RLB delivers over 17 services in the data centre sector across several developers and enterprise AI and cloud operators. The team is currently working with some of the largest self-build hyperscalers.
