Investment in data centers is shifting across Europe, with growing interest in second-tier markets and new AI-driven opportunities. Romania has potential, but it needs a clear strategy, faster permitting and solid energy planning, says Pavlos Trichakis, Partner, Baringa Partners.

“Speed is crucial in this market. How quickly can you execute? That’s linked to permitting and de-risking. Sustainability is another factor. Cost matters, and Romania has seen very competitive costs because of the scale of projects, but it’s not the only factor,” he said at the “International Approach London” conference, organized by Energynomics in London.

The market is currently divided into two main areas: cloud and AI. Cloud projects are generally smaller and still focused on major hubs such as London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and Dublin. However, these markets are becoming congested, with long delays for grid connections in some cases. As a result, investors are turning to second-tier cities such as Madrid, Berlin, Warsaw and Milan. Bucharest could also benefit from this shift, although the real upside lies in AI.

In AI infrastructure, most investment in training large models is expected to remain in the United States, in established hubs like Northern Virginia and Texas. Europe may struggle to compete in this segment. The bigger opportunity for Romania could be AI inference, using trained models in applications such as autonomous vehicles, AI agents and search engines. To attract such investments, countries need a clear and balanced strategy that connects clean energy, decarbonization, permitting and the wider economic benefits of data centers.

Data centers require 24/7 reliable power, and while some tech giants demand full clean energy matching, others are more flexible. Romania may initially attract the latter, but in the long term it should aim higher. In a competitive European market, clarity, execution speed and energy strategy will be decisive, he concluded.

The conference “International Approach London” was organized by Energynomics, with the support of the Embassy of Romania to the UK and the British Embassy in Romania, together with our partners: AJ BRAND, Electrica, Monsson, MyEnerji, Nofar Energy, Waldevar.