Data centre cost index 2022

Against a backdrop of acute inflationary pressures, data centre construction demand is booming and expected to rise further. The sector must do more than react to market pressures to guarantee its future success. A reset is needed to ensure the data centre industry can continue to grow sustainably.

Now in its sixth year, our data centre cost index is the construction industry’s only cost index specified to data centres.  

Our 2022 index covers 45 key markets for data centre construction around the world, providing an index ranking and an indicative US dollar per watt (US$/w) cost for each location.  

Our Data centre cost index 2022 reveals a sector facing price escalation and uncertainty of supply. This is complicating the delivery of data centre projects at a time when most markets are hot with demand.

Price hikes for commodities like metals and energy are pushing costs for construction materials and components upwards, while supply and demand imbalances are causing longer lead times.

Extended lead times for materials and components have had a huge impact on construction programmes, with 95 percent of respondents to our global survey reporting delays to their projects caused directly by material shortages.

Our research reveals that lead times for many pieces of major equipment have extended by 12 weeks or more. 

Amid a growing energy crisis in many regions, power has become a significant blocker to data centre development. 78 percent of survey respondents note that delays in securing power supplies has severely impacted delivery dates.

To secure a resilient future, the onus is on data centre owners and operators to find more efficient, reliable and sustainable means to power these energy-hungry facilities.

For the industry to reset its approach and take a more sustainable path, greater collaboration is required across the sector to share best practice and road-test new ideas.

Read the full report to access our global dataset and gain our insights into the latest trends impacting the data centre construction sector.

To generate the results of our Data centre cost index 2022, data centre benchmarking cost data was captured from live or recent projects in more than 20 countries. All costs are converted into US dollars.

To supplement our cost data, we also conducted an online poll of experts working across the data centre industry.