What are Data Centers and Why Are They Growing Globally?

Less than an hour from Washington, D.C., there is another capital. It is a place—or rather, a non-place—called Ashburn. Located in Loudoun County, Virginia, it is defined as a census-designated place (CDP), a term used by the United States Census Bureau solely for statistical purposes.

According to the latest official data (2022), 45,479 people have chosen to live here, likely for the high quality of life the area offers. But, above all, because Ashburn is the world capital of data centers, so much so that it is also known as “The Center of the Internet” and “Data Center Alley.”

Its story begins in the early 1990s, when the internet boom necessitated finding a physical place to house the large servers of the time. The red pencil of the United States landed on this patch of land, where the soil was available at reasonable prices and electricity costs were 20% lower than the national average. Since then, Ashburn has become the epicenter of the internet universe: it is estimated that 70% of global internet traffic passes through here every day.

The data center hub that has developed in Ashburn was the first in the world to surpass 1 gigawatt of total capacity. Today, there are about 260 such facilities in Loudoun County alone, generating approximately $600 million in tax revenues.

In 2023, the global data center sector generated €325.9 billion and is expected to reach nearly €440 billion by 2028.

According to the Data Center Map, 8,311 of these facilities operate in 159 countries worldwide, including 3,059 in the U.S., 405 in Germany, 376 in the U.K., 252 in India, 247 in Canada, 244 in Australia, 242 in France, 187 in China, 178 in the Netherlands, 169 in Japan, 162 in Brazil, and 153 in Italy. These figures are subject to rapid change due to the growing demand for this type of infrastructure. The high demand has triggered a real gold rush for constructing buildings suitable to house them, involving major technology companies, telecommunications giants, banks, insurers, and, of course, investors who then rent them to third parties.

According to McKinsey estimates, global demand for data center capacity could grow at an annual rate of between 19% and 22% from 2023 to 2030. Consequently, the growing need to collect, store, and manage ever-larger amounts of data requires the construction and development of new, cutting-edge, technologically advanced, and sophisticated facilities worldwide.

According to Moody’s, the market for constructing these facilities—in which the Webuild Group operates through its subsidiary CSC Costruzioni—will see the doubling of their global capacity by 2028, a result that will also be achieved thanks to the support of Artificial Intelligence applications.

The Cloud Transformation Observatory of the Polytechnic University of Milan calculated that between 2022 and 2023, investments in data centers in Italy increased by 10%, a percentage higher than that recorded in Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, and France. The Observatory also estimates that between 2023 and 2025, this market in Italy alone will attract up to €15 billion in potential investments.

China Telecom Inner Mongolia Park

Located in Horinger, in the Hothot region of Mongolia, it was built with an investment of $3 billion and covers an area of one square kilometer. It houses a cloud computing data center, call centers, warehouses, offices, and accommodations, all powered by about 150 MW of energy. It is considered the largest and most complex data center in the world, with major clients such as Alibaba, China’s largest multinational specializing in e-commerce.

Las Vegas, Switch Supernap

The complex just outside Las Vegas rivals the China Telecom Inner Mongolia Park in size and modernity. The Core Campus in Las Vegas currently consists of eleven operational data centers spanning 190,000 square meters. Once the expansion is complete, the campus will cover about 210,000 square meters with the addition of a new building. In terms of modernity and sustainability, Switch Supernap was one of the first data center companies in the world to commit to powering all its centers entirely with renewable energy, a goal achieved through collaboration on an innovative large-scale project developed by Tesla.

China Telecom Data Center

Covering an area of 586,000 square meters in the Guiyang region, this facility was built by the Chinese telecommunications company to expand its cloud services and support the development of artificial intelligence and big data systems.

Chicago, Lakeside Technology Center

Digital Realty owns and operates one of the largest data centers in the world, located in Chicago in a former printing facility. The structure has been repurposed and modernized to provide cutting-edge IT and cloud computing services. This data center spans 102,000 square meters and provides more than 100 MW of power. It is one of the most interconnected facilities in the Midwest, with over 70 network providers, hosting thousands of servers for companies like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.

Dublin, Amazon Web Services

The online retail giant Amazon has chosen Dublin to build its massive data center. The center occupies an area of 93,000 square meters and is one of the largest cloud providers worldwide. The facility, powered exclusively by renewable energy, is considered a key technology hub for Amazon’s European operations. About a year ago, the company obtained permission to build three more data centers in Dublin, doubling the campus’s capacity in the coming years.

Quincy, Microsoft Data Center

Built in the city of Quincy, Washington, this data center spans 74,000 square meters. Its geographic location was chosen not only for the region’s cool climate, which helps reduce energy consumption, but also for the abundance of fiber optics and extremely low energy costs. The campus ensures the operation of Microsoft’s global services. Until 2015, it was the largest data center in the world.

Eemshaven, Google Data Center

The Google Data Center is located in Eemshaven, Netherlands. The center spans an area of 37,000 square meters and ensures the management of Google’s vast array of services, from search engine data to Gmail services and YouTube channels. This facility is also powered by renewable energy through wind turbines and solar panels. For Google, this center was the starting point for expanding its infrastructure to other parts of Europe.

Luleå, Facebook Data Center

The Menlo Park giant built its data center in Luleå, northern Sweden. The campus spans an area of 28,000 square meters and uses the cold climate to naturally cool the structure, reducing energy consumption while utilizing renewable energy sources. The facility supports Facebook’s massive user base and enables its platform to handle the enormous volume of traffic and data.

The Webuild Data Center in Switzerland

The Webuild Group, along with its subsidiary CSC, is active in constructing data centers across Europe. In Switzerland, Webuild and CSC are engaged in the ambitious GEN02 project in Gland, near Geneva, which aims to be highly innovative to complete the entire network of data centers built in Switzerland by Stack Infrastructure. Webuild has also secured Design & Build contracts for two data centers in the Zurich area, with work expected to begin in the second half of 2025.