"It was a need that had been communicated by the big investors to the government, as well as by other companies scanning the Greek market for investments in data centers."

With these words, government sources comment to BnB Daily on the new institutional framework for the licensing of data centers in Greece. The constant request of companies developing in this sector has been to provide for faster procedures for the evaluation of investment projects and their licensing. 

WHAT THE FRAMEWORK CONTAINS

The institutional framework for data centres includes the notification regime to which data centres are subject:

• which provide their services to third parties, partially or exclusively, if they have a rated electrical power of information technology equipment equal to or greater than two hundred (200) kW
• which are intended exclusively for their own use, where the rated electrical output of the information technology equipment is equal to or greater than one thousand (1 000) kW
• Other data centres with a lower power rating shall not be subject to notification but shall comply with the other provisions of the legislation concerning building requirements, land use, fire protection, etc. 

The new regime will apply from 1 March.

Mega investments in Data Centers

The major players in the market include Digital Realty and Microsoft. The multinational giant has announced the construction of three data centres in Spata, an investment totalling around €1 billion. 

THE FRENCH ENTRY

Another data center is for Data4 in Peania, with the French company completing its first data center in early 2027.

The French company operates in France, Italy, Poland and Germany, and the investment in Greece includes 3 data centers with a budget of €300 million. According to its management, its investment in Greece is part of its European investment plan totalling €7 billion by 2030, with which it aims to become a leading European data centre provider.

APTO AND PPC

Another investment concerns Apto, a company owned by the Pimco and Dromeus funds. The investment is worth €300 million and concerns the construction of another data centre in Spata. At the same time, PPC is also preparing to enter the data centres, as its management has indicated.