Poland is experiencing a boom in data-centre construction, demand is high driven by hyperscalers’ requirement for ever-greater compute power generated by the exponential growth of AI, global connectivity and demand for faster streaming. Poland is becoming a regional hub, with the Warsaw region being the most significant. The BPCC and British Embassy in Warsaw held a half-day seminar entitled Development in the Data Centre Sector on 27 May 2025, with speakers from BPCC member companies RSK, Chapman Taylor, Cundall, Trebbi and Baker & McKenzie presenting.
The event focused on building resilient data centres through the integration of engineering excellence, environmental responsibility, legal compliance and smart design, and attracted a full house. The audience consisted of data centre operators and developers, construction companies, energy providers, local authorities and tech investors.
After a welcome and introductory remarks from Lech Kaczanowski from the British Embassy Warsaw and the BPCC’s Michael Dembinski, Mariusz Witkun, from Trebbi Poland explained how to find the perfect data-centre plot. He covered the need for thorough technical due diligence conducted by multidisciplinary teams. These need to check location, neighbourhood, zoning and media supply. But above all, he said, it’s not so much ‘location, location and location’ as it is ‘power, power and power’. Price is not the key driver; if there is power, everything else is a secondary issue. Modern data centres are built high – from 20 to 40 metres, and will have underground diesel generators for emergency back-up power. They’ll need to be able to withstand at least a once-in-a-hundred-year flood event, have access to water supply and be near a fire station. If you want your own solar and/or wind power, you will need 40 hectares or more, he said.
Aleksander Śpiewak from RSK focused on the challenges connected with building data centres on brownfield land. He talked about the need to consider the entire project lifecycle from site selection, through to final decommissioning. Brownfield sites tend to be well located, close to urban centres but not in them, and typically with good power connections. The cost of cleaning up contaminated land, he said, needs to be balanced with the environmental issues connected with the removal of the contamination. A risk-based strategy is needed; data centres do not need the same level of decontamination as would be required for a hospital, school or housing estate. The appropriate remedial decision is needed, so as to avoid work that creates more environmental risks.
Rafał Giersz from Chapman Taylor, explained why architecture matters in data centres, pointing to the architect’s role as an integrator across all disciplines. Aspects for architects to consider were power-usage effectiveness (PUE), reducing the carbon footprint, airflow and cooling, site orientation, choosing the right materials, and designing modular layouts which enable future growth, height and layout, as well as zoning and access, flood and earthquake risk,, redundancy in power, cooling and access, and continuous operation. The architect must act as bridge linking IT, HVAC, and electrical and structural engineers. Efficiency, scalability, security, form and function are the goals, and, especially important in cities is the issue of how neighbours will see the building –aesthetics cannot be ignored.
James Rowse and Igor Sikorski, Cundall, covered the engineering challenges of keeping data centres cool. What was considered a large facility in the early 2000s – around 10 MW – has evolved to 100MW being common today, with 1GW expected in the near future for campuses. As technology advanced, servers began running at higher temperatures. This allowed the use of chilled water systems with warmer water, making cooling more energy-efficient and sustainable. But a new trend is changing this. AI applications are raising power density, which means cooling now needs to be colder again. Smartphones, working from home, machine learning, as well as ever-faster transfer speeds, means ever-growing power requirements – power that’s transferred into heat. In Poland, demand for power for data centres has doubled since 2021 and is set to more than double again by 2030, as befits CEE’s fastest growing economy. But the country doesn’t have enough power; what’s available tends to be grey and expensive. Clean, cheap power is needed. And there’s not enough water; central regions are quite dry. However Poland’s cooler climate gives it an advantage over many western countries and creates strong potential for more sustainable solutions. Good cooling strategies must balance electricity use with water consumption – especially since water is a limited resource and has its own carbon impact. One promising trend is putting that waste heat to good use. Data centres can provide a useful heat source. One built for Meta in Denmark reclaims 40MW of waste heat which is pumped into a local district heating network, providing heat for 7,000 homes. Similar projects are starting in Poland and Cundall is helping promote waste heat utilisation. Cities like Warsaw, Poznań and Wrocław are already showing interest in such a scheme. Ultimately, Poland needs nuclear power. As chips get faster and bigger, more powerful data centres are required; cooling needs to get closer to the chips, so pipes and pumps are here to stay.
Agnieszka Skorupińska, Baker & McKenzie, tackled the legal trends and compliance considerations. She said that data centres in Poland currently account for 9.3TWh or 4% of national energy demand, and that this is rapidly growing. Grid operator PSE currently has applications for 500, 800 or even 1GW data-centre projects, totalling 13GW; there is not enough capacity. Building your own wind and/or solar farm helps, but the need for energy is greater. Power-purchase agreements to sell green energy is an answer, as are battery energy storage systems, connected to renewables. Ultimately, the future will be small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). These are still some way off, but will be in use before Poland has its first full-size nuclear plant. Being modular, SMRs can be moved, and put where they’re needed. District heating is a win-win; it’s not happened in Poland yet, but it is possible. Enforcement may be necessary to make most of this potential. Nature protection, zoning, permitting, back-up energy generation, waste management, water issues all need to be considered.. Brownfield is a good location for data centres, they have better locations. Lots of permitting is required. Scheduling is important but doable. Permits are needed for back-up generators and for storing and disposing of electronic waste. These should all be planned for in advance.
The presentations were followed by a networking snack-lunch. Feedback from attendees suggests that the subject should be returned to in a follow-up seminar.
