UAE, Saudi Arabia to add up to 3GW of data centre power by 2030

The UAE, along with Saudi Arabia, are expected to quickly increase data centre capacity, and will account for more than 80 per cent of the region’s share of data centre capacity by 2030, as per an S&P report.

The credit rating agency said that both countries will presumably add around 2 to 3 gigawatt (GW) of IT power, making up up less than 2 per cent of global IT power but contributing the most in the region.

Over the next four years, the US and Canada are expected to contribute the most, at 70 per cent of new data centre capacity.

Stay up to date with the latest news. Follow KT on WhatsApp Channels.

New large-scale projects, such as the 5-GW Stargate UAE campus, could push these numbers even higher. Stargate UAE is an AI infrastructure cluster based in the UAE-US AI Campus in Abu Dhabi, and is a collaboration between G42, OpenAI, Nvidia, Oracle, Cisco, and SoftBank. The initial 1 GW is expected to be completed over the next three years.

In Saudi, the data centre projects developed by the Public Investment Fund-backed company Humain could push data power of up to 1.9 GW by 2030, rising to 6.0 GW-6.6 GW in 2034.

However, deployment timelines differ. While Saudi Arabia's capacity additions will likely only materialize later in the decade, the UAE is accelerating the expansion of its data center sector. As a result, the timing and magnitude of capex should follow the same trend, S&P said.

The average cost to build data centres will average about $11 million per megawatt in the UAE and $13 million/MW in Saudi Arabia over the period 2026-2030, compared with $12 million/MW in Europe and $13 million in North America, according to 451 Research.

The credit rating agency said energy affordability and accessibility are crucial for the region's data centre prospects, with average energy prices well below global averages, providing a significant competitive advantage.

In addition to generating clean, non-hydrocarbon-based electricity, the UAE is investing heavily in nuclear energy to power these data centres.

Demand for data centers and local partners should benefit from regulations. Strict data localization regulations and sovereign cloud policies increase the demand for domestic data centers. And joint ventures combining U.S. or Chinese hyperscalers with local partners that maintain operational control of the data centers will be important to address digital sovereignty goals.

The implementation of personal data protection laws in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as well as frameworks such as the Cloud Computing Regulatory Framework and Essential Cybersecurity Controls, mandated local data storage. In line with GCC countries' national long-term goals, investments focus on data literacy, AI security, and AI-enabled tools.

AI adoption and AI transformation creating very strong demand for cloud adoption, agentic AI and GPU usageUAE, Saudi Arabia emerge as AI infrastructure powerhouses as Gulf bets on long-term growthUAE bets on Artificial Intelligence supremacy to power digital future