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Dutch datacentre sector pitches itself as relief for an overloaded grid. European datacentre associations argue that building datacentres where renewable power is generated could ease grid congestion in the Netherlands and beyond. * Kim Loohuis Published: 29 Sep 2026 14:26 The Netherlands has no shortage of electricity - but what it does lack is the grid to carry it. At the end of 2025, more than 15,000 applications from businesses and institutions were queuing for a new or heavier connection to the regional grids, according to the Dutch government. Wind and solar farms generate power in places where nobody uses it, while the cities and business parks that need it are stuck with a network that cannot take any more. The sector often blamed for the grid pressure can in fact help relieve it, say Europe's datacentre trade associations - not by using less electricity, but by using it where it is generated. Representatives from the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden, France and Italy made that case during a panel at Vertiv Week 2026, the annual EMEA event of US power and cooling supplier Vertiv, in Zagreb. Stijn Grove, managing director of the Dutch Data Center Association, explained how that would work. Offshore wind farms in the North Sea are struggling to expand because there is not enough demand for the power they produce. Without new buyers, there are no new power purchase agreements, and without those, there is no financing. The Dutch government's last zero-subsidy tender, for the 1GW Nederwiek I-A site, drew no applications at all, with rising costs and lower electricity demand than expected cited as the reasons. And the power that is produced comes ashore on the coast, where hardly anyone needs it. "So, now the grid operator has to rebuild its whole network to transport that power to a totally different location," Grove said. That is why TenneT, the Dutch national grid operator, is now asking the sector whether it can help at those coastal sites. The logic is straightforward - a datacentre next to a landing point uses the power on the spot. The grid operator no longer has to move it across the country, which frees up capacity on the existing network for other users. Grove added that the sector could bring more than demand alone. "We are a high-margin business, so we are willing to invest in this kind of situation to expand the grid." Ronan Kelly, CEO of Digital Infrastructure Ireland, sees the same pattern at home. Ireland has one of the highest numbers of datacentres per capita in the world, but the landing stations for offshore wind are not where those datacentres are. The Irish government's Large Energy User Action Plan, published in January, aims to correct that mismatch by steering new datacentres towards locations with renewable generation. Kelly also pointed to battery storage, which the Irish market increasingly uses to bridge dips in wind and solar output. And because datacentres already have backup capacity and can generate their own power, he believes they could support the grid when it is under strain. "There is a future role for datacentres in stabilising the grid," Kelly said, "so that when it comes under pressure, the datacentres connected to it can help bridge part of the energy shortage." Heat as currency. Consuming power locally is one way datacentres can relieve the grid, and their waste heat is the other. In De Kwakel, a Dutch village in the middle of the Greenport Aalsmeer horticultural area, Switch Datacenters and dozens of growers signed an agreement for a heat network fed by a new datacentre. It will supply heat to the greenhouses, and the greenhouses will send cold return water back to cool the it. Research by Dutch regional grid operator Liander found that without it, every grower would need its own heat pump to move off gas, putting even more strain on a regional grid that is already congested and has little physical room to expand. In Rotterdam, operator Smartdc runs a datacentre in the former logistics building of the Van Nelle Factory, a Unesco World Heritage site that is home to more than 100 companies, and supplies heat from its servers to the rest of the complex. The monumental buildings used around 800,000 cubic metres of gas a year. Since the datacentre replaced its conventional cooling units with heat pumps that carry server heat to the offices, their gas use has fallen by 80%. Isabelle Kemlin, vice-chair of the Swedish Data Center Industry Association, pointed to comparable projects in Sweden: heat supplied to district heating networks, waste heat used to dry wood for local heating plants, and a datacentre in Boden that heats a greenhouse where the municipality provides jobs for people who find busy workplaces difficult. "But that only works if municipalities sit down with the operator from the start," Kemlin said, "not once the datacentre is already there." The European Commission (EC) estimates that reusing around half of all datacentre waste heat in Europe would cover the heating demand of four million households. Nuance in the measurement. The day before the panel, the European Commission presented a rating scheme for datacentres. Much like the energy label on a washing machine, it will rate datacentres above 500kW on the energy and water use they already report under the Energy Efficiency Directive, with the first labels expected in 2027. The EC's first report on energy efficiency puts the average Dutch datacentre at a power usage effectiveness (PUE), the standard measure of datacentre efficiency, of 1.17, which the EC rates as excellent, and a water usage effectiveness (WUE) of 0.70. Those figures rest on a narrow base, however: across the EU, only around 36% of the datacentres required to report actually did so. Grove welcomed the initiative, but was quick to add a caveat: "The idea of monitoring and showing people how good your infrastructure is, that's not a bad idea. But can you capture all those nuances in a small sticker with some data and some colours? I'm not really sure." Water is a case in point. Where water is plentiful, cooling with it is cheaper and more efficient than using electricity, Grove explained, while in water-scarce regions operators go fully electric. On paper that can look like poor performance, even though it is the right choice. Michaël Reffay, managing director of France Datacenter, was more wholehearted in his support. "It increases transparency, and transparency means acceptability," he said, although he warned that the scheme must not become a competitive disadvantage compared with the US and China. Grove also pointed to a paradox that sums up the whole debate. A datacentre that supplies waste heat to its surroundings needs a heat pump to do so, and there is still no agreement on whether that extra electricity should count towards its PUE. "If it does, the PUE gets worse," Grove said, "but actually, you're providing heat to somebody else." The label does take this into account, since it also records a datacentre's contribution to the grid, including heat reuse. But once the labels appear, it is the letter that makes the headlines, not the small print. The underlying data is also far from reliable. Researchers at the University of Stuttgart found in July that some of the figures supplied were plainly wrong: Danish datacentres, for instance, would have been running at 140% of their capacity, which is impossible. Partner or burden. The panel closed on a note of urgency. Kelly described the current investment wave as the largest the world has ever seen. "We have the opportunity to build the most secure and the greenest AI infrastructure in the world," he said. "But we have to grasp it quickly, because the industry won't wait for us." The opportunity may be there, but the road is far from clear. Between sessions, Kelly acknowledged that working with grid operators can be hard going. In Ireland, where the grid operator is a state-owned company that grew out of the old combined grid builder and operator, it tends to work at its own pace and does not like being pushed, and offers of help from the sector often get a lukewarm reception. Nor do grids have capacity to spare. Kelly, who worked in the UK for two years before joining DII, sees the same pressure there as the UK tries to capture as much of this investment as it can. "As soon as you open the doors and say, "Come here, we've got energy', the developers arrive in 100-megawatt chunks. Before you know it, it's all gone." Public perception is another obstacle, and one Kelly called "absolutely a problem". Until there is demonstrable proof that datacentres do not harm their surroundings, he said, a negative image is hard to reverse. For Reffay, the unease starts with AI itself: "Right now, AI is mostly delivering anxiety." In his view, perception will only change once the technology delivers tangible benefits to large groups of people. Kemlin went a step further and turned the argument around: Europe already has an electricity infrastructure, and is now building a second one. "It is not just another big consumer of electricity," she said. "It is the new infrastructure." For Grove, it ultimately comes down to a political choice. "It's good that we live in Europe, where there is regulation and there are boundaries on growth," he said. "But the direction of our economy is digital. Europe, and the countries within it, need to make a decision to invest in the infrastructure the economy of the future needs." * ING warns grid congestion threatens Dutch datacentre leadership, while the country's championed hydrogen solution remains largely untapped. * Ex-ASML chief Peter Wennink's deregulation solution triggers warnings from academics and government advisers. * Could datacentre energy procurement do even more to green the grid, accelerating the rise in renewables?

Three AI infrastructure companies — Vertiv, Lumentum, and Applied Digital — are positioned to benefit from surging data centre demand through 2029. Global AI infrastructure spending is expected to exceed $1 trillion by that year, according to IDC. Vertiv, valued at $94.4 billion, supplies power and cooling systems for AI data centres. The company generated $3.3 billion in revenue in Q2, up 24% year-over-year, with adjusted earnings per share rising 60% to $1.52. Vertiv targets 20% to 22% revenue compound annual growth through 2026 and a 27% adjusted operating margin by 2030. Analysts expect Vertiv's adjusted earnings per share to reach $6.73 in 2026, representing roughly 60% growth. Of 27 analysts covering the stock, 21 rate it a "Strong Buy.

Italy's HiRef breaks ground on first Americas plant in Hidalgo. By Paloma Duran | Journalist and Industry Analyst - Tue, 09/29/2026 - 10:32 DIA assistant Italian precision cooling company HiRef broke ground on its first manufacturing plant in the Americas, a MX$200 million-plus facility in Hidalgo set to start operations between late 2027 and early 2028. The plant will produce precision air conditioning for telecom networks and data centers as AI drives demand for energy-efficient cooling amid Mexico's power constraints. The project benefits data center developers, integrators, Mexican suppliers and engineers, while reinforcing Italy-Mexico trade ties under the modernized EU-Mexico agreement. Italian precision cooling specialist HiRef has started construction of its first manufacturing facility in the Americas, a plant in Hidalgo that will require an investment of more than MX$200 million. Located in Parque Industrial Plata, the site is expected to begin operations between late 2027 and early 2028 and will produce precision air conditioning equipment primarily for telecommunications networks and data centers. The facility will supply both the Mexican market and other Latin American countries where the company already operates. HiRef, which has had a direct presence in Mexico since 2020, designs precision climate control systems, chillers and liquid cooling solutions for critical infrastructure, including high-density data centers built to handle AI workloads. Beyond production, the company is positioning the plant as a tool to ease pressure on Mexico's power supply. By lowering the energy consumed by cooling systems, HiRef aims to free up electrical capacity for other productive activities and reduce operational emissions. The project is also expected to integrate young Mexican engineers and local suppliers into a fast-growing global industry. "Artificial Intelligence does not only need computing capacity: it requires infrastructure capable of operating that capacity efficiently. Therefore, cooling will be a fundamental piece for Mexico to take advantage of the growth of the digital economy responsibly," said Alejandra Castellanos, Director, HiRef Mexico and LATAM. Local Production Reshapes Operations Manufacturing in Mexico will change how the company runs its regional business. HiRef will need to rethink warehousing, the reception of goods and the transport of equipment from ports, while gaining the ability to work in closer proximity to integrators developing data center projects. According to the company, the global rush to build AI-ready facilities is reaching Mexico, bringing new investment but also significant energy challenges. That assessment matches the latest industry figures. The Mexican Data Center Association (MEXDC) reports that the country has 279MW of installed data center capacity, with 205MW under construction and 1,730MW announced. The association expects US$82.5 billion to flow into data center construction and equipment between 2026 and 2031, but warns the system will need roughly 1.7GW of additional energy capacity to meet projected demand. Cooling sits at the center of that constraint. Traditional data centers often rely on water-intensive evaporative systems, a growing concern in water-stressed hubs such as Queretaro, where new projects are being pushed toward waterless cooling and more efficient power usage metrics. HiRef joins other thermal management players expanding production in Mexico, including Vertiv, which announced a US$150 million expansion of its Reynosa campus to scale up liquid cooling systems and power equipment for AI-ready facilities across North America. Hidalgo Builds Its Industrial Case The plant adds to a growing pipeline of projects in Hidalgo. The state has accumulated MX$147.7 billion in private investment commitments across 130 projects and posted 8.2% annual economic growth in 1Q26, the fastest among Mexican states, with manufacturing expanding 7.9%. State authorities have noted, however, that reliable energy and water supply will be decisive in turning those commitments into operating capacity. A Stronger Italy-Mexico Bridge The investment also reflects deepening commercial ties between Mexico and the European Union, as both sides move to consolidate their modernized Free Trade Agreement, which seeks to lower tariffs and boost investment and exports. Italy is among the most active partners in that relationship. "Bilateral trade has maintained an upward trend, recently surpassing US$11 billion, consolidating Mexico as the main destination market for Italian exports in Latin America," said Lorenzo Vianello, President, Italian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico. He added that HiRef's investment in Hidalgo over the next three years supports that trend and described the company as a benchmark in engineering, innovation and sustainability that will strengthen commercial links between both countries. For Castellanos, the Hidalgo facility is the company's response to the energy challenge posed by digital growth. "From Hidalgo, we will manufacture technology to respond to that challenge and turn it into industrial development for Mexico," she said.