Overview
EMEA SUMMARY
We are pleased to present our Q2 2021 review of the EMEA data centre market.
2021 brought uncertainty as to what demand would look like after the accelerated buy-cycles of the initial COVID reaction. Supply growth continues to be strong across EMEA. From the Q1 and Q2 trends, the market appears to be settling on both continued core expansion and moderate edge market expansion, with hyperscalers driving continued cloud demand across both.
Of the leading markets, development has been most notable in Dublin (146 MW added in Q2), London (122 MW added), and Copenhagen (72 MW added). Frankfurt also added 32 MW.
In Dublin, Amazon and CyrusOne completed expansion work, and EdgeConneX received approval for a large Dublin expansion and beginning its construction. Copenhagen registered a supply increase estimated of circa 72 MW in Q2, about a 15 percent increase in total supply. This is driven by hyperscale activity in the market to supplement existing capacity.
London added just over 120 MW of new supply in Q2, tripling the market’s Q1 supply increase. Ark Data Centres, Equinix, and Iron Mountain all began new construction. New facilities were announced by Pure, Echelon and Global Technical Realty. London’s Q2 take-up was 25 MW, demonstrating the strength of a colo-dominated market and the agility of development.
Added to the EMEA market profiles is Nigeria, a market that continues to undergo expansion. With new fibre links, and a large, increasingly connected population, the country’s economy is becoming more reliant on communications infrastructure. Africa Data Centres is entering the Lagos market with its first data centre, MainOne is building its second data centre, and Cloud Exchange West Africa is building its first data centre in Nigeria in partnership with Huawei.
The trend toward expansion across EMEA outside of FLAPD is also expected to continue. On the hyperscale horizon, 2021 will see facilities in seven markets come online (Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, and Finland are adding capacity in addition to the core markets of Amsterdam and Dublin). This is a record for a single year. Istanbul and Warsaw are other “edge” markets to keep an eye on in the immediate future.
THE APAC MARKETS
The Q2 2021 Knight Frank Data Centre Report continues our coverage of the APAC region. Market analysis includes both established data centre hubs such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Sydney, Seoul and Tokyo and fast growth markets including Hanoi, Bangkok, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur to provide the best view of the region.
APAC MARKET SUMMARY, Q2 2021
In the second quarter, take-up across the region was again around 88 MW, on par with the quarterly average recorded in 2020 and the 75 MW in Q1. Supply increases remain healthy, with capacity rising by nearly 700 MW in Q2. Aggregate supply across the region is now approximately 7 gigawatts.
Tokyo recorded the largest supply increase with nearly 250 MW added in Q2. Aggregate supply at the end of 2020 stood at over one and a half gigawatts. The market has historically grown by 90 MW per year on average.
Shanghai added just over 200 MW, a 15 percent increase in total market supply. Shanghai’s estimated aggregate supply now stands at about one and a half gigawatts. Q2 growth alone is about 75 percent of the supply growth in 2020 alone. There is also increasing interest from hyperscalers in this market.
Seoul added 90 MW of supply, an uplift of 23 percent. Aggregate supply for Seoul has jumped to 400 MW.
Hong Kong increased supply by 51 MW (7 percent) compared with 80MW added in all of 2020. Singapore rose by 37 MW (5 percent), comparable to the 40 MW increase in Q1.
Mumbai growth is still strong with 24 MW added in Q2.
One factor that may slow data centre expansions though is the steps countries are taking to address the global climate emergency. Singapore is a good example of this, with the country imposing a moratorium through 2021 on new data centres as it reassesses sustainable power solutions to balance projected growth. Across the region, similar challenges will undoubtedly be countered with additional regulation. This means that the remainder of 2021 could see examples of markets of low supply rises and development completion targets extended.
