From Ohio to Nairobi: Mapping the Uneven Surge of Data Center Growth

From Ohio to Nairobi, data center growth is anything but linear. North America builds today. Europe and Asia ramp next. And leapfrog markets like Kenya or Vietnam post the steepest jumps. The winners? They know where to show up, when to move, and what to bring.

Starzdata Blog /

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Sep 30, 2025

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Abstract digital illustration of global data center expansion. Three stacked glowing grid blocks in blue and green rise step by step, symbolizing growth. Curved arcs connect across a faint world map background, representing subsea cable connectivity. Soft gradients of white, blue, and green create a light, transparent atmosphere.

What we asked the platform

We asked Starzdata: “Where are new data centers planned — and how does that stack up against what’s already live?”

What we found: A second fleet is already under way

Today North America carries most of the build, but by 2034 Europe and Asia nearly catch up.

Today’s global fleet: ~42 GW installed
Already in the pipeline: ~84 GW → nearly 2× the live fleet.
By 2034, capacity could reach ~173 GW.

Exhibit 1 — Global fleet tripling by 2034 (Installed, Pipeline, Projected)

Stacked bar chart comparing installed, pipeline, and projected 2034 data center capacity (MW) by region. North America dominates both installed (~21 GW) and pipeline (~67 GW), while Europe (~18 GW by 2034) and Asia (~11 GW by 2034) catch up in the long term. Other regions (Oceania, South America, Middle East, Africa) remain comparatively small.

How we built this view

This global snapshot comes from 3,500+ datapoints across 125 states, provinces, and countries. Starzdata Smart Queries stitch together broker reports (CBRE, Cushman & Wakefield), public inventories (Cloudscene, DataCenter Map), and company announcements — scored and deduplicated by our confidence layer.

See how capacity shifts in real time — not in quarterly PDFs.

👉 Build this view for your markets → Book a 30-min walkthrough

The story in plain words

Think of data centers as the factories of the internet. One fleet is already live. A second one is on the way — but it won’t land evenly.

North America is pouring concrete today.
Europe & Asia will see more of the build in the 2030s.
Momentum markets (Kenya, Vietnam, New Zealand) look small today, but their plans are several times larger than what’s already live.

Anecdotes at country and state level

🇺🇸 United States — Building at scale

Already the biggest fleet: nearly 20 GW installed. Pipeline adds another 65 GW (≈3.3×). Hot spots include Ohio, Virginia, and Texas.
For suppliers: Cooling, power, and commissioning demand is immediate.
For investors & consultants: Sequencing states by permits and power incentives defines the winning play.

Exhibit 2 — USA fleet expansion (Top states by pipeline)

Bar chart showing U.S. states ranked by data center pipeline capacity in MW. Ohio leads with the largest pipeline, followed by Virginia, Texas, Wisconsin, Arizona, and Nevada. Other states appear with smaller but notable volumes.

🇰🇪 Kenya — Small base, big leap

Today’s installed base is just 27 MW. Pipeline: 160 MW — almost 6× bigger. It’s like going from a local clinic to a full hospital overnight.
For suppliers: Anchor deals now can lock future expansion.
For investors & consultants: Treat this as option value — small entry, high upside.

🇻🇳 Vietnam — A fast mover

Installed 221 MW, pipeline 729 MW (~3.3×). Once projects clear permits, capacity can triple quickly.
For suppliers: Package turn-key builds ready to launch when permits release.
For investors & consultants: Focus due diligence on grid interconnection and policy clearance.

🇨🇦 Canada — Different games in each province.

Alberta leads with project volume, Ontario and Québec with incentives, and BC with energy pricing.
For suppliers: Adjust go-to-market by province, not just country.
For investors & consultants: Model provinces separately; lumping Canada hides risk and opportunity.

Exhibit 3 — Canada’s uneven build (Top provinces by pipeline)

Bar chart showing Canadian provinces ranked by data center pipeline capacity in MW. Alberta leads with the largest pipeline volume, followed by Ontario and Québec. British Columbia shows smaller but notable capacity. Other provinces appear with minimal pipeline capacity.

Connectivity is the hidden signal

Like airports and hotel hubs, the more routes you have, the more traffic flows through. In data, that means cable landings. Our analysis shows a clear signal: where cables land, data centers follow.

Our platform shows a clear link: more subsea cables usually means more new data centers. The correlation isn’t perfect (~0.37, p-value ~0.009), but it gets sharper at the metro level — proving that cables are a growth signal you can’t ignore.

Exhibit 4 — Connectivity as a growth signal (Pipeline vs. Cable Landings)

🇮🇪 Connectivity in Dublin

One of the densest cable landing hubs in Europe. Its interconnectivity underpins Dublin’s hyperscale role — but power permits are now the main brake.
So what: Connectivity pulls demand, but ESG slows delivery.

🇸🇬 Connectivity in Singapore

Despite land and power limits, its subsea hub status makes it unavoidable for cloud and AI deployments. Demand clusters where cables meet.
So what: Regulation caps volume, but connectivity locks in strategic value.

🇺🇸 Connectivity in Virginia (USA)

Ashburn thrives not just on land and power, but because it sits at the intersection of major backbone and subsea routes — reinforcing Northern Virginia as the world’s largest cluster.
So what: Virginia wins by combining all three signals — power, land, and connectivity.

But cables and latency aren’t the only magnets. Increasingly, what decides whether projects get built isn’t where the cables land — it’s how markets handle sustainability and regulation.

ESG as the new gatekeeper

ESG isn’t killing growth — it’s reshaping it.

Our data shows ESG-linked markets account for over 75 GW of planned capacity — outpacing even AI-driven demand. That means growth is now gated by new rules: PPAs, carbon reporting, and efficiency thresholds.

Other drivers matter too — cheap power keeps the U.S. South and Midwest attractive, AI accelerates builds in Asia, and incentives shape selective opportunities in Canada and Europe.

Exhibit 5 — Market drivers reshaping growth (Installed vs. Pipeline)

Stacked bar chart comparing installed capacity (2024) and pipeline capacity (MW) across six market drivers: AI demand, cheap power, data sovereignty, ESG regulation, government incentives, and strategic location. ESG regulation shows by far the largest pipeline (~75 GW, including 23 GW installed and 52 GW in pipeline), followed by government incentives (~22 GW), cheap power (~14 GW), and AI demand (~10 GW). Data sovereignty and strategic location show relatively small volumes under 4 GW.

Anecdotes at country and state level

🇳🇱 Netherlands — ESG as a cap

Strong connectivity, but pipeline is throttled by policy. Spend shifts to retrofits, heat reuse, and compliance.

🇺🇸 United States — Cheap power + ESG

Virginia and Texas still lead on cost, but every hyperscale deal now comes with renewable PPAs attached. ESG is non-optional.

🇸🇪🇳🇴 Nordics — ESG as an accelerator

Abundant renewables and district heating loops make these markets magnets for sustainable hyperscale builds.

🇸🇬 Singapore — Selective builds

ESG caps volume, but operators win permits by bringing liquid cooling and high-density footprints.

Why it matters

Data centers are doubling — but not evenly. The winners will be those who know:

Where to show up — North America today, Europe and Asia in the 2030s, leapfrog markets if you manage risk.
When to show up — The winners ride the right wave at the right time.
What to bring — Cranes and servers in some markets; optimization tools (PUE, heat reuse, carbon reporting) in others.

How we know

This view is built from 3,500+ datapoints across 125 zones — curated, cross-referenced, and scored by our confidence optimization engine. We merge broker reports, regulatory data, inventories, and operator disclosures into a stitched signal you can act on.