Brussels, Feb 3, 2026, 14:10 CET
- Amazon Web Services reports that lengthy delays in securing grid connections are hindering new data center developments across Europe
- An AWS executive revealed that linking up with Europe’s transmission grid can drag on for as long as seven years
- The EU is working on proposals to fast-track permits and modernize ageing power grids
Amazon.com’s cloud division faces multi-year waits for power grid hookups across Europe, the company revealed to Reuters on Tuesday. These delays are throwing a wrench into its plans to ramp up data center capacity.
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The bottleneck hits at a tricky time. Energy-hungry sectors are urging the European Union to ramp up grid investments, stressing that reliable power access could determine the location of new plants and infrastructure.
For Amazon Web Services (AWS), connecting to the grid is now rivaling real estate and construction as the biggest bottleneck. Pamela MacDougall, AWS head of energy markets and regulation in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), explained that grid access has turned into a major factor driving data center investment decisions.
Linking a site to the transmission network—the high-voltage grid—can drag on for as long as seven years in Europe, MacDougall noted. By comparison, building a data center usually takes around two years. In the U.S., connection waits typically range from one to three years, says the International Energy Agency, but occasionally they stretch out to seven years as well.
“We’re seeing increasing delays across Europe when it comes to certainty of delivery dates,” MacDougall said.
Last year, the European Commission put forward legal changes aiming to limit the approval timeline for grid permits to two years max and to exclude certain grid projects from environmental assessments, which formally review environmental impacts. Negotiations on these proposals are ongoing between EU countries and lawmakers.
MacDougall said Amazon aimed to build infrastructure in “many countries,” but missing grid connections or congested power networks made it impossible. “There’s a misalignment. We want to expand and grow within two years,” she said, noting the delays were “challenging our growth aspirations.”
Italy and Spain are facing delays in grid connections due to a backlog of “speculative” projects — those filed as a precaution but unlikely to move forward, according to electricity industry group Eurelectric. Because of first-come, first-served policies, these projects block others from jumping ahead in the queue.
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MacDougall serves as vice-chair of GIGA, a new industry group formed last month to urge policymakers to update Europe’s power grids. Members include Meta, Google, and EV charging provider Fastned.
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Amazon is ramping up its data center footprint across Europe to grow AWS, the world’s biggest cloud platform offering computing power, storage, and other digital services. The company doesn’t reveal the exact number of its European data centers, but its infrastructure spans over 20 countries on the continent. Notably, it’s boosting investments in France, Germany, and Spain.
Faster rules don’t guarantee quicker wiring. The EU proposals remain in flux, and grid operators wrestle with backlogged connection queues and slow permit approvals for network upgrades. This uncertainty drags out delivery timelines, leaving developers with projects that may no longer make financial sense.
Companies are getting straight to the point: without clear deadlines for grid upgrades, investment decisions stall or shift to other regions. What used to be a niche technical discussion in Europe has morphed into a full-blown industrial policy battle.
