A Delphi Pilot Study to Assess the Impact of Location Factors for Hyperscale Data Centres

The rapid expansion of digital technology used by individuals and organisations has resulted in the need for many data centresData centres on a rapid scale. Data centresData centres are high energy-consuming buildings during their operation. Therefore, data centresData centres are increasingly being built in regions with good access to energy infrastructure and cold climates to reduce the cooling energy demands of the facilities. This paper presents locationLocations factors that must be considered when estimating and modelling the capital cost of data centresData centres built outside the UK. The research presented here is based on a questionnaire survey conducted as a pilot study of an impending DelphiDelphi study. The participant’s responses were obtained via an open-ended questionnaire with a cross-sectional timeframe. A thematic analysis of the responses revealed six overarching themes: ease of doing business, design, customer pricing, land, power and fibre, and supply chain. The three most dominant are land, power and fibre and supply chain. This pilot study confirmed the knowledgeKnowledge gap and supported the need that further investigatory work is required. A complete DelphiDelphi study will develop the themes identified in this pilot study to achieve consensus on their significance and support an assessment of the impact of locationLocations on the modelling and forecasting of capital expenditure for hyperscale data centresData centres.