The Lux Take: Opportunities in Power, Cooling, and Community Partnerships
Utilities and materials and chemicals clients should note the takeaway from the 2025 Data Centre Expo that opportunities in the data center sector continue to be concentrated around reliable power supply, the scaling of liquid cooling, and local community partnerships. As facilities grow more energy intensive and regionally distributed due to data sovereignty requirements, collaboration among utilities, technology providers, and local stakeholders will be essential to ensure resilient expansion.
Insights from the 2025 Data Centre Expo
In September 2025, Lux attended the Data Centre Expo in Amsterdam, a gathering of over 8,000 attendees, comprising policymakers, senior executives, innovators, startups, and investors active in the data center industry. Attendees came together to discuss challenges around AI, data center cooling, sustainability, and energy resilience and how data centers are adapting to growing energy and infrastructure demands.
Here, Lux outlines key themes and takeaways from the event, highlighting notable developments and areas of discussion across three major themes.
1. Data sovereignty is emerging as a determinant of data center growth.
A recurring theme across sessions was the growing influence of data sovereignty on where data centers are built. Speakers noted that Microsoft has doubled its annually added capacity in EMEA for three consecutive years, largely to meet regional and national sovereignty requirements. Similar policies elsewhere, such as China’s restrictions on cross-border AI data flows, reinforce a shift toward distributed architectures and country-specific deployments. Therefore, rather than simply scaling existing hubs, operators are segmenting workloads based on regulatory sensitivity. Sovereignty also extends to labor and trust: partnerships with universities and local programs are aimed at cultivating an in-region talent base capable of managing sensitive systems. Companies are investing directly in education, apprenticeships, and local engagement, with examples including Microsoft’s collaboration with Nvidia in Norway and Green Mountain’s programs in trade schools. This emphasis on sovereignty and localization also underscores the importance of community engagement, as noted in our discussions with several industry stakeholders, who emphasized that sustained trust and local collaboration are integral to successful data center development.
2. Rising thermal loads are accelerating the shift toward liquid cooling and system redesign.
Liquid cooling was repeatedly mentioned across sessions and, as DCX highlighted, adoption may need to accelerate faster than expected. The company noted that designs initially planned for 60 kW per rack have already doubled to 120 kW, and by 2026, operators may even need to cool electrical circuits with liquid. This rapid increase in density is necessitating redesigns of cooling loops, power distribution, and rack architecture, underscoring how AI workloads are outpacing traditional planning cycles. Speakers from Microsoft and Nvidia emphasized that integration remains complex — requiring new monitoring tools for pressure and flow, updated warranty frameworks, and revised approaches to redundancy. From an efficiency standpoint, Castrol reported that direct-to-chip (DTC) cooling can lower power usage effectiveness from roughly 1.4 to 1.2, and immersion may reach below 1.1, though maintenance demands and ROI constraints still limit near-term deployment. Overall, discussions reinforced that liquid cooling is becoming essential and its widespread rollout is expected within the next two years as operators confront growing thermal pressures.
3. Electricity remains the defining constraint shaping data center growth.
Ongoing grid congestion and connection delays are steering development toward renewable-rich regions like Norway, Iceland, and Finland, where firm low-carbon power is more accessible. At the same time, operators are increasingly adopting on-site generation and exploring pay-as-produced power purchase agreements, in which electricity is purchased as it’s generated, better reflecting renewable variability but requiring closer coordination with grid operations.
Several speakers underscored the growing importance of flexibility, with the Dutch Data Center Association describing it as “not optional but foundational.” In this context, Google was cited as a leading example through its real-time renewable matching and carbon-intelligent computing platform.
Outlook: Power, Cooling, and Sovereignty Will Define the Next Phase of Data Center Growth
The data center industry remains a hotbed of opportunity, particularly in power and cooling. On the power side, utilities should see operators’ growing need for firm, reliable electricity as a collaboration opportunity. By working with developers early, especially as more sites pursue on-site generation, utilities can help design systems that also serve grid flexibility, supporting both parties’ long-term goals. Recently, corporates, startups, and regulators (e.g., the Electrical Reliability Council of Texas, PJM) have all taken steps toward scaling flexibilty.
On the cooling front, adoption of liquid cooling will keep accelerating, though contrary to Castrol’s projection that immersion will dominate by 2027, the near term will be led primarily by DTC systems. This shift opens several opportunities for chemicals and materials companies to build new partnerships and pilot technologies. Finally, the push toward data sovereignty will require stronger local partnerships in each deployment region, including community engagement, which will remain a must to build trust and ensure long-term success.
To discuss these trends further, speak to an analyst.
