Greece develops as data center hub for Southeast Europe, Eastern Mediterranean

With its geostrategic location, renewable energy resources and policy initiatives, Greece is emerging as a prime location for digital infrastructure, particularly data centers, to serve the wider region of Southeast Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean.

As it is, Greece is already a regional hub for Southeast Europe with 26 data centers, according to Data Center Map, and half-a-dozen subsea telecommunications cables connecting the country to the world’s information superhighway. And, last year, Public Power Corporation – Greece’s one-time national energy provider – announced a €5.75 billion project to transform a former coal mining district in Western Macedonia into a major European hub for green energy and technology.

The project foresees a €2.3 billion, 300 MW data center in the first phase, which could be scaled to 1,000 MW in the future. With the first phase targeted for completion by 2027, the government is reportedly in active talks with Google, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services about investing in the Kozani area.

And, earlier this month, at the Data Centre World London exhibition March 4-5, Greece attracted significant interest from investors about its prospects as a regional hub. “The international market recognizes the role Greece can play as a digital infrastructure hub for Southeastern Europe and the Eastern Mediterranean,” says Enterprise Greece CEO Marinos Giannopoulos. “The contacts made at Data Centre World London highlight the growing interest of international groups in the Greek market.”

He adds that Greece “has the basic conditions for the development of modern data center infrastructure, such as strong international connectivity, energy development potential, specialized technological human resources and a mature technical ecosystem.”

Developing Greece’s capacity in data centers would help the country expand its AI-capable infrastructure, while also enhancing domestic data security and defenses against cyberattacks. Greece’s European Union membership and geostrategic location means that the country could potentially serve as a safe and secure hub for neighboring countries in the region as well as countries in the Middle East.