Countries / Europe
Belgium
Belgium is a growing data centre market held back by grid connection waits and a patchwork of regional permitting rules.
There is no federal data centre permitting regime. Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels each handle zoning and permits, with typical timelines of six to twelve months when zoning fits. Industry reports colocation and hyperscale capacity passing 260 MW of IT power by the end of 2026, with Google expanding in Wallonia. More than 180 companies in Flanders are reported to be waiting for a grid connection, and the grid operator Elia is offering flexible connection models. For someone seeking compute, Belgium offers commercial capacity near the FLAP hubs, but timing is set by power, not by demand.
AI policy and activity
EuroHPC lists Belgium as an AI Factory Antenna in the group with Germany's JAIF. We did not collect a national AI strategy or Belgian supercomputer details.
Power and grid
Industry body figures reported by ITdaily say the main brake on growth is grid connection timing, with more than 180 companies in Flanders waiting. Elia's flexible connection models are seen as promising but operators want faster, clearer processes. Reported PUE is 1.2 to 1.4.
Data centres and compute
| Site | Where | Status | Notes and source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Wallonia campuses | Wallonia, including Farciennes | Planned | Trade press says Google is expanding with new Wallonia campuses and that the Farciennes site will soon feed a local heating network. It also links to a report of a 5 billion euro Belgian AI infrastructure investment, which we did not read. (source) |
Rules and programmes
| Instrument | Kind | Status | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regional zoning and permitting for data centres | Planning | In force | Law-firm summary. Competence sits with the three regions, there is no dedicated data centre zoning category and an environmental impact assessment may be needed. |
| EU proposal to speed up environmental assessments for strategic sectors | Law | Proposed | Same law-firm summary says the Commission proposal names data centres and AI factories among sectors for a streamlined assessment regime if adopted as proposed. |
Checked on 2 October 2026 and due for review by 1 January 2027. Many sources are trade press or law-firm summaries rather than official texts, and statuses such as reported or unconfirmed are shown as the source gives them. This is a summary, not legal advice. If something is wrong or out of date, tell us.