Data4 Escaudain: €5B 700MW Hyperscale Campus in France
Status: Active / Master Planning & Environmental Site Permitting Phase (Tracking June 2026) | Location: Former Parc des Soufflantes Industrial Redevelopment Site, Escaudain, Northern France
Project Overview
The Data4 Escaudain Data Center Campus is a monumental digital infrastructure asset officially unveiled by European operator Data4 on June 16, 2026. Representing a massive €5 billion (US$5.8 billion) capital blueprint, this giga-scale development stands as the single largest data center investment in the company's history and across the French market. The project is specifically engineered from the ground up to establish a massive computational engine tailored to absorb skyrocketing European demand for high-performance computing (HPC), deep cloud migrations, and modern artificial intelligence architectures. Advancing systematically through site environmental master-planning and spatial layout optimization in mid-2026, the campus transforms a 33-hectare parcel at the former Parc des Soufflantes industrial site. Strategically positioned between Europe's traditional core FLAP-D (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin) data markets, the Escaudain complex completely bypasses the severe grid locks and land scarcity throttling nearby capital metros. By redeveloping a historic industrial site, the massive project will create thousands of regional construction jobs and hundreds of high-wage technical roles while providing hyperscale tenants with immediate speed-to-market and unparalleled grid connectivity.
Quick Facts
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Project Name | Data4 Escaudain: €5B 700MW Hyperscale Campus in France |
| Location | Former Parc des Soufflantes Industrial Redevelopment Site, Escaudain, Northern France |
| Status | Active / Master Planning & Environmental Site Permitting Phase (Tracking June 2026) |
| Commissioning | Phase 1 structural delivery and initial power testing targeted for late 2028 |
| Total IT Load | ~550.0 MW net critical operational compute capacity across full buildout |
| Total Capacity | 700.0 Megawatts (700 MW) gross total utility power allocation |
| Tier Level | Tier III+ Compliant (Concurrently maintainable design with direct high-voltage grid backing) |
| Project Type | Brownfield Industrial Redevelopment, Giga-Scale AI & Hyperscale Cloud Campus |
City Profile
| Header | Details |
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| City Name | Escaudain |
| Population | Approximately 9,300 |
| Urban Agglomeration | Approximately 337,000 (Valenciennes Urban Area) |
| City GDP | Not officially reported at city level; part of the Valenciennes economic region |
| Per Capita Income | Estimated €19,000 - €22,000 per year |
| City Tier | Tier 4 – Small Industrial Town |
| Key Strengths | Strategic location in Hauts-de-France; access to Valenciennes economy; industrial and manufacturing heritage; affordable housing; good regional transport connectivity |
Companies Involved
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| Developer / Operator | Data4 Infrastructure |
| Strategic Infrastructure Partner | Municipality of Escaudain / Hauts-de-France Regional Economic Development Council |
| Construction Contractor | Leading European Prime Mission-Critical General Contractors & Industrial Builders |
| MEP Engineering | Data4 Global Design Group & High-Density Thermal Systems Engineering Divisions |
| Network Connectivity | Ultra-high-speed carrier-neutral network fabric deploying multiple physically isolated fiber paths linking directly back to the primary Western European internet exchanges |
| Power Infrastructure | Direct, high-voltage transmission interconnects tied into France's heavy industrial utility grid, supported by newly constructed on-site distribution substations |
Technical Specifications
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| Power Capacity | 700 MW gross ultimate site power allocation engineered to sustain high-density AI server clusters and next-generation compute configurations |
| UPS Redundancy | $2N$ block-redundant static solid-state UPS networks paired with rapid-start backup generation arrays and advanced localized energy buffering blocks |
| Cooling System | Next-generation liquid cooling architectures and closed-loop thermodynamic loops designed to maximize heat-rejection efficiency without constant fluid loss |
| Connectivity | Minimum of 4 physically independent, concrete-fortified underground network entry points to guarantee absolute transport pathway diversity |
| PUE Target | Highly optimized annualized operating profile utilizing advanced environmental controls to drastically reduce ancillary power overhead |
| Energy Mix | 100% matched renewable energy framework utilizing localized green power sourcing agreements backed by Data4's strict corporate ESG mandates |
Milestones
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| Announcement | 2026 - Q2 |
| Construction Start | 2026 - Q4 |
| Phase 1 Go-Live | 2028 - Q4 |
| Full Buildout | 2032 - Q4 |
Investment Details
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| Total Investment | €5 Billion |
| Funding | Backed by direct institutional equity structures from AXA Investment Managers combined with Data4 corporate infrastructure capital allocations |