Abu Dhabi, Dubai among top emerging data centre markets
A.SREENIVASA REDDY (ABU DHABI)Abu Dhabi and Dubai are among the top two emerging data centre markets globally, according to Cushman & Wakefield's newly released '2025 Global Data Center Market Comparison' report. The UAE's two largest cities are also the highest-ranked emerging markets in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region. The global study evaluated 97 data centre markets, classifying them as either established or emerging across four regions: Americas, EMEA, and Asia Pacific (APAC). The rankings were based on 20 criteria including power availability, fibre connectivity, development pipeline, land pricing and policy support.According to the report, Abu Dhabi ranked fourth and Dubai sixth globally among all emerging data centre markets. Austin/San Antonio led the global emerging market rankings, followed by Iowa, Pennsylvania, Abu Dhabi, Reno, and Dubai. Other notable markets included Berlin, Helsinki, and Munich.Globally, Virginia retained its position as the top established data centre market with 5.9 GW of operational capacity, followed by other established hubs such as Phoenix, Dallas, Atlanta, Oregon, Columbus, Beijing, Salt Lake City, Chicago, and Shanghai.'There's a clear link between long-term infrastructure planning and current market performance,' said Edward Macura, Country Head at Cushman & Wakefield Core.'Abu Dhabi and Dubai have created the conditions for scale, and global operators are responding. Access to power, land, and fast-track approvals are converging with demand from AI and cloud platforms – this combination is driving investment decisions.'The UAE currently has more than 250 MW of live data centre capacity, with an additional 500 MW under active development. Among the flagship projects is 5GW UAE-US AI Campus spanning over 10 square miles in Abu Dhabi. The Stargate AI project, backed by OpenAI, Oracle, and Nvidia, was recently unveiled with a planned 1GW capacity as part of the grand plan. Khazna Data Centres remains the dominant operator in the country, accounting for more than 59% of the market share, while cloud expansions by global giants such as AWS, Alibaba, and Equinix continue across both emirates. Notably, Emirates Group is shifting operations to a solar-powered data centre at the Mohammed bin Rashid Solar Park in line with sustainability goals.The UAE's data centre market, valued at $1.26 billion in 2024, is projected to grow to $3.33 billion by 2030. This growth is being driven by large-scale capital deployment from both domestic and international investors. ADQ and Energy Capital Partners are investing $25 billion into power infrastructure to support data centre development. In a separate initiative, MGX, Microsoft, and BlackRock are jointly backing a $30 billion AI-related investment programme.'We're seeing investment decisions being made on the strength of delivery performance, not just potential,' Macura added. 'Developers are meeting deadlines, occupiers are pre-leasing, and supporting infrastructure is being delivered in parallel. That consistency is being noticed by institutional capital.'Stargate UAE's first 1 GW of capacity is scheduled to go live by 2026, an accelerated timeline by global standards. Meanwhile, Khazna's 100 MW AI-focused facility in Ajman is also progressing towards phased delivery within 24 months.
As AI workloads intensify and power availability becomes a key global constraint, the UAE is positioning itself as a scalable hub for next-generation computing. 'The level of interest we're seeing isn't temporary,' said Macura. 'The UAE has reached the point where it offers both operational reliability and future capacity – those are the markets that will outperform over time.'
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