Kuwait
Kuwait tenders new substations to power Google Cloud and Microsoft
Kuwait has opened tenders to build three new power substations intended to supply electricity to Google Cloud and Microsoft data storage / cloud facilities, highlighting both its push to catch up with neighbouring GCC states on hyperscale cloud and the constraints of its domestic power system. Bids are due Feb 10th, after multiple deadline extensions, and analysts note Kuwait’s long-running challenge of insufficient generation to meet peak demand – an issue that resurfaced in 2025 with power cuts during high-load periods. Commentators argue that adding energy intensive data centre demand could further strain the grid unless Kuwait accelerates reforms and investment, including subsidy reform, refurbishment of ageing plants and grid infrastructure, and a major renewable ramp-up. Others point to Kuwait’s increasing reliance on imported electricity via the GCC Interconnection Authority (with limited new domestic capacity expected before 2028) as a key risk for sustained cloud-scale expansion. The tender activity builds on Google’s January 2023 commitment to develop a cloud region in Kuwait and Microsoft’s March 2025 partnership to establish an AI-powered Azure cloud region, alongside wider power projects such as Al-Zour North, Al-Khairan, Al-Subiya Phase Four, and the Shagaya renewables programme…Read more
UAE
Stargate UAE scales up: 5GW campus, $30Bn investment
Stargate UAEs panned 5GW data centre campus in Abu Dhabi is now expected to cost more than $30Bn, according to Omar Al Olama (Minister of State for AI, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications), positioning it as a flagship proof-point of the UAE’s ambition to lead the next phase of global AI infrastructure. Speaking on a recent panel, Al Olama said the project is designed to underpin international AI alliances and support other countries’ sovereign AI needs. The campus will be built across 19.2 sq.km – more than nine times the size of Monaco – and the latest cost estimate is around 50% higher than the initial $20Bn forecast in the spring of 2025. He also highlighted the UAE’s growing capability in LLMs, citing Core42’s Jais and MBZUAI’s K2 Think, and framed the UAE’s approach as providing sovereign options that countries can build, train, and fine-tune on top of. The first phase of Stargate UAE is reported to be progressing rapidly and is targeted for completion in Q3 2026, with development led by Khazna (G42) alongside major partners including OpenAI, Oracle, Nvidia, Cisco, and SoftBank, and with South Korea also joining the initiative…Read more
Damac secures ~1GW for US AI data centres, reaching $12Bn of $20Bn plan
UAE-based Damac Properties says it has already secured US sites and associated power totalling ~1GW, which it estimates equates to around $12Bn of its planned $20Bn investment into AI data centre infrastructure. Speaking to CNBC at Davos, Chairman Hussain Sajwani said this puts the group “more than halfway” to its US target and that it should take two to four years to reach the full $20Bn figure. Sajwani described power availability as the defining factor for data centre development, noting that the “gigawatt” figure refers to the electrical load that can be supported by the land acquired. The update follows Damac’s early-2025 announcement – made alongside US President Donald Trump – that it would invest at least $20Bn in US data centres through its digital infrastructure arm Edgnex (with any additional investment dependent on market conditions). Damac has already acquired land in Ohio and New Jersey and is assessing further sites in Texas, as it expands beyond its real estate roots into AI-driven digital infrastructure, alongside a separate $3Bn data centre commitment in Southeast Asia….Read more
Active Energy signs UAE MoU to explore digital infrastructure and bitcoin mining JV
Active Energy Group, the AIM-listed renewable energy and digital infrastructure firm, has signed a non-binding MoU with two existing IAE-based partners to explore a proposed joint venture spanning digital infrastructure operations and bitcoin mining. Under the proposed framework, Active Energy would lead strategy and project development, oversee energy optimisation and performance and potentially raise growth capital via a mix of equity and debt, while partners take on delivery: one would run day-to-day technical operations (including hosting/AI-compute environments) and optimise performance across facilities, and the other would support commercial demand generation through its client relationships and sale platform. The company says the JV is designed to expand its UAE platform in stages – starting with improving existing capacity and advancing near-term development – while keeping head office overheads low, with further build-out dependent on funding, market conditions, and customer demand. The move follows Active Energy’s wider Middle East push, including enabling 100% foreign ownership and access to local power and capital markets (including Sharia-compliant financing)…Read more
Middle East
Tencent Cloud announces ME expansion plans
Tencent Cloud says it is looking to expand its data centre footprint in the Middle East as it grows its international cloud business. Speaking to CNBC, CEO Dowson Tong said Tencent is actively exploring building data centres in the region and adding more availability zones over the next 12-18 months, though he did not name specific countries. Tencent already operates a cloud region in Saudi Arabia with two availability zones (launched early 2025) and is targeting future expansion in Asia Pacific and Europe. The move comes as Chinese firms increasingly expand into the Middle East, creating a natural customer base for Tencent’s overseas growth, but competition is intensifying – Alibaba launched a second Dubai data centre in October 2025 and Huawei has a Saudi cloud region – while Tencent has simultaneously been reducing capex (down 24% YoY to RMB13.0Bn / US$1.83Bn in the latest quarter) citing AI chip availability changes and GPU supply-chain constraints…Read more
From cloud to AI: why Middle East data centre investment is surging
The Middle East data centre market continues to accelerate, driven by multi-tenant demand, government digital transformation, cloud adoption, and sustained hyperscaler investment; now increasingly shaped by the shift to AI-native infrastructure designed for LLMs, edge referencing, and latency-sensitive workloads. Industry voices argue the region is becoming a global focal point for AI data centre investment, supported by policy tailwinds (e.g., UAE AI strategy and Saudi Vision 2030) and growing technology spend – Gartner forecasts a MENA tech spending of $169Bn this year, with data centre systems among the fastest-growing segments. Alongside rapid campus build-outs, attention is turning to the enabling layer: AI compute only delivers value if high-capacity, low-latency connectivity can move data securely at scale, prompting calls to expand terrestrial backbones and diversify subsea cable routes between Europe and the Gulf. With the UAE and Saudi moving quickly – backed by sovereign entities, hyperscalers, and R&D initiatives such as the TII-Nvidia joint AI research lab – commentators suggest the region is evolving from AI adopter to AI innovator, but that sustained growth will hinge on resilient fibre-fast network infrastructure…Read more