Mitul Patel, Head of EMEA Data Centre Research at CBRE, comments:
All of the applications and services provided by the cloud computing companies that we are using to function effectively during mandatory lockdown are ultimately powered by data centres, and therefore the role of the data centre today is critical for all aspects of life. Data centres are the reason that we can have conference calls, shop online, stream television, play video games and connect with family and friends.
Q1 2020 was unusually quiet for cloud companies, who are responsible for 80% of take-up across the FLAP markets. While the total take-up for Q1 was therefore relatively modest, at 26MW, there is no doubting the appetite of the cloud service providers for new data centre infrastructure in Europe. The scale of their individual commitments is increasing and this is resulting in a growth in the number of single-tenant facilities. In the most active markets, London and Frankfurt, these companies are increasingly looking to lease whole buildings of over 20MW. As a result, the number of facilities leased entirely by single-tenants in 2020 is expected to reach nine, compared to four in 2019 and one in 2018.
On top of Q1 take-up, CBRE is aware of 138MW of further capacity that has already been committed to or is under option in the FLAP markets. These transactions, plus additional deals which come to market in the next three quarters, make it likely that the FLAP markets will reach 200MW for the second consecutive year.
Possibly one of the most significant challenges in the current environment involves the construction of new facilities and fit-out of data halls for new tenants. Market take-up is dependent of the development of these facilities to house new end-user requirements, so minimizing any delays to construction programmes will be important to overall success.
As things stand, most companies are continuing with construction and plan to continue to do so as long as it is legal, practically possible and safe. Developer-operators are confident that delays will be minimised and that there will therefore not be a significant disruption to existing development pipelines.
The underlying drivers in the European data centre sector are strong and the outlook is promising. Most economic indicators show that data centre asset class is weathering the effects of Covid-19 well and we are confident the sector in Europe will continue to show strong growth in the coming 12-18 months
