Interest in Poland as a place to locate data centers is growing and, according to Baker McKenzie experts, will be further strengthened by administrative restrictions on such investments introduced by other countries. Among other things, due to problems with energy supply, restrictions on the development of data centers have been introduced in Europe by countries such as the Netherlands, France and Ireland. Energy consumption in data centers is 40 times higher than in other commercial real estate.
“We are facing a migration of the data center business in search of clean and, above all, accessible and stable sources of energy,” says Agnieszka Skorupinska, partner heading the Sustainable Development and Energy Transition Practice at Baker McKenzie’s Warsaw office. “The success of RES development and the launch of nuclear power plants, including plans for modular nuclear reactors (SMRs), will be crucial for this sector in Poland.”
Poland is becoming the leader of the CEE region in terms of the number and capacity of data centers, according to data from consulting firm JLL. In 2024, there were 123 data centers in Poland, and experts estimate that the size of the market as measured by power resources will almost triple to 500 MW in 2030. The sector’s growth is linked to the development of artificial intelligence-based technologies, more cloud computing, a proliferation of IoT (Internet of Things) devices and the growing popularity of social media.
“Investors are increasingly recognizing the growing demand for data center infrastructure in the region, and Poland is emerging as one of the key jurisdictions in this area. Despite existing procedural and formal challenges, the potential of our country is high, attracting interest from both institutional investors and corporations developing data centers for their own needs,” says Weronika Achramowicz, managing partner of Baker McKenzie’s Warsaw office and co-head of the Transactional Practice. “Moreover, planned investments in nuclear power significantly strengthen Poland’s competitiveness as a location for long-term, sustainable technology investments.”
According to Baker McKenzie lawyers, at the investment planning stage, it is necessary to take into account the time required to negotiate a long-term power purchase agreement (Power Purchase Agreement) and to process applications submitted to the Polish Power Grid (PSE) responsible for distribution. The PSE is operating under increasing pressure related to, on the one hand, the growing RES capacities that are awaiting approval to connect to the grid, and on the other hand, requests for energy consumption from data center operators, which are reaching record highs of 500, 800 or 1,000 MW. Both the transmission grid and the regulations governing consent procedures need to be changed.
Currently, most of the total commercial server space in Poland is located in Warsaw. Large cities dominate the list of preferred locations. However, the larger the facility, the greater the challenges related to environmental concerns, among others. Baker McKenzie experts point out that location and corporate social responsibility factors are closely intertwined when it comes to data centers. The location of the center is determined primarily by local zoning plans (MPZP); however, access to water used for system cooling and waste management, and the issue of removing excess heat are equally important.
The importance of ESG issues plays an important role in planning data center investments and the search for solutions aimed at reducing their negative impact on the environment. In some cases – for example, when connecting a data center to a local district heating network, allowing the thermal energy it generates to be used to heat residential buildings – regulatory simplicity is required.
Baker McKenzie lawyers highlight additional opportunities that investors can take advantage of, including those related to the use of brownfield sites, i.e., post-industrial or originally developed land, which often have a prime location and meet the conditions necessary for a data center. As Weronika Guerquin-Koryzma, partner and head of the Real Estate Practice at Baker McKenzie’s Warsaw office, points out, “investments in brownfield sites make it possible to take advantage of locations close to, or even in, cities, which is crucial in terms of proximity to users and infrastructure efficiency. While it will not always be possible to fully adapt an existing facility or an available brownfield site to investment plans, access to infrastructure has a huge impact on project timing and attractiveness.”