Data Centre World is launching "DC Power Talks", a series of exclusive interviews with the leaders who are shaping the future of the industry. Over the coming months, we will be publishing conversations with some of the industry's most influential voices, addressing key topics such as market growth, sustainability, technological innovation and investment strategies.

In this first installment, we talk to José María Guilleuma, Director of Data Centers at Colliers, a leading data center real estate consulting firm, to find out what factors will determine the evolution of the sector in the coming years.

How do you foresee the growth of the data center market in the Iberian Peninsula after 2026? What will be the next strategic regions beyond Madrid, Barcelona and Aragon?

The growth of the data center market from next year onwards will depend on the ability to commission the projects in the pipeline, which in turn depend primarily on accelerating the permitting and commissioning of the electrical connections already secured. The commissioning of these projects under development will already show a significant change in the size of the mainland market.

Beyond these projects in the pipeline, the growth of the sector in the 2030 horizon will depend on the outcome of the new transport network planning and the speed of its implementation. Beyond Madrid, Barcelona and Aragon, we must keep an eye on places such as Valencia, Malaga and Bilbao, and also on the commercial response of delocalized projects in search of the availability of the land-power binomial on a competitive scale and schedule.

Beyond the growth of artificial intelligence and energy demand, what other unexpected or disruptive trends could impact the data center market in the next five years?

Artificial Intelligence is already a sufficiently disruptive change to deal with over the next few years. We believe that the ability to navigate rapid technological change with the not-so-rapid data center development cycles will be key to capturing market share or gaining entry into a market where competition is intensifying with new players.

With the saturation of Madrid and Barcelona, what key criteria are investors using to identify the next strategic locations? What emerging risks are they assessing before making decisions?

The first is to be clear about the type of service that can be developed in these new locations and whether there is a real demand for this type of project. From there, the same criteria have to be assessed as in any proven location: availability of finalist land, power, fiber and capacity to scale the project. The issue is that in some locations it is not obvious to find all three.

Public-private partnerships are essential for the development of critical infrastructure. What initiatives or public policies do you consider key to fostering the sustainable growth of data centers in the region?

Indeed, public-private collaboration is essential. The private sector has to make a greater effort to educate citizens about what a data center is and its importance for the digital economy, and the public sector has to be convinced that this industry represents a huge opportunity for the country. From there, all measures that help to provide more certainty (especially in terms of deadlines) to the private sector will lead to more investments. And this is a task that affects all levels: from local administration to central government.

In recent months, there has been talk of possible speculation in the land market for data centers, with rising prices and increasing competition among investors. Do you think we are facing a bubble in the acquisition of strategic land, or is there still room for sustainable growth on the Iberian Peninsula?

We believe that speculative projects have not been transacted for months now, speculative being understood as the simple action of obtaining power in any location. Even in prime areas, a project does not generate interest if the power line, despite being secured, has an unaffordable cost or if the availability schedule is too uncertain. This is a consequence of the increased sophistication of both sellers and buyers. Only projects that are well managed from the outset and oriented towards the development of a data center are of real interest to investors and operators.

Given this growing interest in acquiring land for data centers, what is Colliers' strategy for advising investors and operators on identifying key locations and mitigating risks?

For us it is critical to be able to participate from the early stages of a project with potential. We think that any land owner has to invest in the data center project as if he were going to build it. The regulation with the endorsements for the power request already points in that direction. There is a clear value in generating viable data center projects, and we believe that the new regulatory framework for access to demand will encourage collaboration models between developers and project promoters with operators and industrial investors, especially in prime locations.

Looking ahead, what are the main challenges and opportunities you identify for the data center market in the Iberian Peninsula, and how does Colliers plan to position itself to lead in this dynamic environment?

I believe that during the last few years a lot of work has been done with very positive results to position the Iberian Peninsula as a real alternative in Europe to the traditional FLAP-D markets. We are now entering a phase in which many projects have to be implemented to prove that the latent demand that is being felt is really real. We as Colliers want to help our clients to identify and assess viable and feasible projects, being aware of the short supply market environment in which we find ourselves.