Jones Lang Lasalle: AI infrastructure is thriving, and global data center capacity will double in five years | Lianhe Zaobao

The global data center industry is expected to continue expanding at an unprecedented pace, with the industry's capacity projected to nearly double from 103 gigawatts (GW) in 2025 to 200 GW by 2030, representing a five-year compound annual growth rate of 14%. Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL) pointed out in its latest report, "2026 Global Data Center Outlook," that the explosive growth of data centers in the next five years will require a total investment scale of up to $3 trillion (SGD 3.85 trillion). This includes $1.2 trillion in real estate asset value creation and approximately $870 billion in new debt financing. This trend will mark the arrival of a "super cycle" in infrastructure investment. Behind this trend is the rapid reshaping of the data center landscape by artificial intelligence (AI). By 2025, AI workloads are expected to account for 25% of all data center capacity. JLL anticipates that this ratio will quickly rise to 50% by 2030. The report states that the rapid growth of global data center capacity will urgently require energy innovations to alleviate the bottleneck of tight grid power supply. With the average grid connection waiting time in major data center markets exceeding four years, the report predicts that data center operators will increasingly adopt behind-the-meter power arrangements and explore colocated battery storage solutions. For example, the average grid connection waiting time in Singapore is about four years, approximately five years in Atlanta and Chicago, about six years in Paris, Frankfurt, and London, and around ten years in Tokyo and Amsterdam. Behind-the-meter power arrangements refer to power producers directly installing renewable energy equipment at the user's location to provide electricity; while colocated battery storage refers to battery storage systems deployed alongside power generation facilities, sharing the same grid access point. Further Reading SME Chamber invests SGD 10 million to help member companies accelerate digital transformation and adopt AI [AI cloud facilities become a new battleground for technology, but some facilities are overwhelmed, risking large-scale outages again next year ![](https://dss0.zbstatic5.com/s3fs-public/styles/article_small_crop/public/articles/2025/12/01/FILES-SPAIN-US-TECH-AI-ENERGY-010656.jpg? The report predicts that natural gas will play an important role in alleviating pressure on the U.S. power grid. However, in the Asia-Pacific and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), natural gas solutions are not as highly regarded, while the utilization of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power is continuously increasing, with some projects offering tenants costs that are 40% lower than the grid. Given the delays in power interconnections, some data center operators are directly investing in the construction of power generation facilities. Some markets (such as Dublin and Texas in the U.S.) even require operators to provide their own power. Additionally, the data center industry is expanding at an astonishing rate, leading to extended construction timelines, a shortage of skilled labor, and rising development costs. From 2020 to 2025, the average construction cost of global data centers is expected to rise from USD 7.7 million per megawatt to USD 10.7 million per megawatt, with a compound annual growth rate of 7%. Moreover, there are significant differences in construction costs between developed and emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region. For example, Tokyo's cost ranges from USD 14 million to USD 18 million per megawatt, Singapore's from USD 12 million to USD 15 million per megawatt, while Mumbai's is between USD 6 million and USD 7 million per megawatt. These figures only include the costs of constructing the shell and core. Tenants are typically responsible for the installation of technical equipment, with artificial intelligence infrastructure costs potentially reaching USD 25 million per megawatt. Matt Landek, President of the Global Data Center and Critical Environment Division at Jones Lang Lasalle, stated in a press release on Thursday (January 22): "The scale of demand is staggering. Between 2024 and 2026 alone, hyperscalers plan to invest USD 1 trillion in data center construction. The supply constraints, coupled with four years of delays in grid connections, are creating a perfect storm that is fundamentally reshaping how we approach development, energy procurement, and market strategy." In the next five years, the data center industry in the Americas will grow the fastest, with capacity increasing from 49 GW to 109 GW (with the U.S. accounting for about 90%), resulting in a compound annual growth rate of 17%; the Asia-Pacific region will grow from 32 GW to 57 GW, with a compound annual growth rate of 12%; while Europe, the Middle East, and Africa will increase from 21 GW to 34 GW, with a compound annual growth rate of approximately 10%