Mihai Manole, CEO Tema Energy: The data center market in Romania is in the “gain momentum” phase - Business Review (2025)

The local data center market is in a period of significant growth, with many data center builds and expansions and major interest from European and American developers, according to data from Tema Energy, the largest data center designer and builder in Romania, with business of €20 million last year, up 30% from 2023.

Romania is very attractive for data center investments due to factors such as: the availability and low price of land, the accessibility of energy resources – a cost per MWh comparable to other markets in the region, but also an attractive energy mix thanks to wind, solar and hydro sources, fiber-optic connections to the communications networks that link Romania to the rest of the world and access to highly trained people.

“In order to stimulate this industry, the authorities need to support the attraction of large investors, creating examples of success by regulating the construction approval process, simplifying the connection to utilities, energy subsidies and tax exemptions, following the model of other European countries such as Italy and Spain,” said Mihai Manole, CEO of Tema Energy and organizer of the DataCenter Forum, the only event dedicated to the data center industry in Romania. The Forum will take place on May 7 and will gather around 700 participants from Romania and the region.

Construction costs for a data center in Romania – at least 25% lower than in Western Europe

The Tema Energy manager adds that the data center market in Romania is in a phase of “gain momentum” and among those most interested in expanding or building new data centers are companies in the energy, real estate and telecommunications sectors. Some of these players are in the analysis and design phase, while others have already acquired the land and started the process of obtaining permits and authorizations.

“Large companies in these sectors are interested in the data center sector, driven by the explosion in demand generated by Artificial Intelligence, but also by the strong growth in demand for cloud services. Western Europe’s high construction costs of more than €10 million per MW are leading investors to turn their attention to Central and Eastern Europe. In countries such as Greece and Poland, these costs are on average below €7.5m, and in Romania they can be even lower due to lower land prices. In Bucharest, a number of large investment and real estate players have secured large plots of land in well-located areas with easy access to the national grid. At the same time, they have applied for approvals for connections of tens or even hundreds of MW, necessary for the development of future data centers, with the aim of having them operated by specialized companies,” Mihai Manole explained.

Investors prefer Bucharest to Budapest. The capital could grow from the current 20 MW to 50 MW by the end of 2027

The economic growth of Bucharest in recent years has led most investors and developers to prefer it over other capitals in the region such as Budapest or Sofia for the construction of new data centers.

“At the level of Bucharest – which concentrates the largest investments – the market could grow from a capacity of about 20 MW today to 50 MW in the next two years. We know with certainty that the data centers in Bucharest are close to full capacity, estimating an occupancy rate of around 95%. Many players do not have the power capacity to meet the growing customer demand. At least two centers in Bucharest are involved in capacity expansion, but also in moving to the high-density model – so more processing power in the same space or opening new locations,” added Tema Energy’s CEO.

Bucharest had a data center vacancy rate of 5% in 2024, almost half the 9.8% for the FLAP region (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris – the most developed in Europe) and well below the estimate of around 7.9% for 2025.

“A non-occupancy rate of only 5% in Bucharest suggests that many companies fail to find the necessary resources to colocate digital projects, which will most likely lead to an upward trend in prices for such services,” Mihai Manole explained.

DataCenter Forum – an industry trends event for approximately 700 participants

In order to promote the latest technological solutions and industry trends in Romania, Tema Energy organizes DataCenter Forum, the only event dedicated to the data center and cloud market in Romania, starting 2016. The event will take place on May 7 at the Face Convention Center and will gather around 700 participants from Romania and the region: the most important players in the industry, from investors and data center owners to specialists, designers, consultants.

Registration can be done by accessing datacenter-forum.ro and participation is free of charge.

The event will consist of a conference with more than 20 international and local speakers, as well as an exhibition supported by the most important manufacturers and suppliers of technology dedicated to data centers.

“Among the most important topics discussed during the seventh edition of the DataCenter Forum are: the transition from traditional AI Data Center and AI Factory, Romania’s attractiveness for data center investments, the impact of new European regulations (efficiency and sustainability reporting) on the local market, the availability of renewable energy, the alignment between technology players (server and application manufacturers) and infrastructure operators to meet the new requirements for powering and cooling next generation AI equipment”, said Ștefan Taciuc, director of the DataCenter Forum.

This year’s DataCenter Forum edition will feature experts such as Mark Acton – one of the industry’s best-known independent consultants – involved in the shaping of several industry standards and member of the European Commission committee responsible for the EU Datacenter Code of Conduct (the main regulation on energy efficiency).

Also, the special guest of this edition will be Wes Cummins – Founder and CEO of Applied Digital, one of the largest builders of Artificial Intelligence data centers in the US and which has successfully transitioned from cryptocurrency mining data centers to AI factories.

Other speakers are: Iolanda Saviuc – Scientific Officer for the Joint Research Center (JRC) of the European Commission, co-author of the report “Energy Consumption and Energy Efficiency trends in the EU” – an analysis of EU trends across several industry sectors, including tech; Vanessa Moffat – representative of the Data Centre Alliance (DCA), the largest independent association dedicated to the data center sector; Tudor Cosăceanu – Regional Vice President for Romania and Republic of Moldova at UiPath – who will highlight the need for high processing power for a company developing a high-performance AI platform.