Energy companies have stopped signing new agreements for connecting data processing centers (data centers) to the grid in Moscow. The reason is that the existing capacity is already in use or reserved by major players for the next several years.
A source at one of the IT companies told Vedomosti journalists that small volumes of electricity supply are not suitable for data centers. At the same time, electricity suppliers have begun to run short of capacity to provide the required amount of power.
Problems with connecting new data centers will not be resolved in the short term, believes independent energy expert Dmitry Stapran. In his opinion, increasing available capacity in Moscow is practically impossible. New power generation capacity is planned only for 2027–2030, while the construction of high-voltage lines is scheduled for 2030–2032.
At the moment, occupancy of existing data centers in Moscow is about 95%, and available capacity does not exceed 1.4 thousand rack spaces. This is leading to data centers beginning to appear in regions such as Yekaterinburg and Kazan, but demand for them remains low.
The drawbacks of locating data centers in the regions are also emphasized by Ilya Mikhailov, director of the data center division at Selectel. According to him, local companies mainly open small data centers. For major players, such a policy may be economically unprofitable, since their clients are concentrated in Moscow.
The decline in the commissioning of new data centers in 2025 has become noticeable. According to iKS-Consulting, the number of new racks fell to almost 5 thousand from 11 thousand in 2024. Market leader RTK-TsOD, which operates 39 data centers, also noted the low pace of capacity growth.
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