Abu Dhabi data centre expansion is picking up speed as AI workloads grow, and Khazna Data Centers has set a target to power all mechanical cooling with carbon-free electricity by 2035. The company says it wants to reach 50% carbon-free coverage for cooling load by 2030. Its first standalone ESG report puts the 2025 baseline at 27%, with about 20% of that from on-site solar and the rest from certified clean-energy instruments. Cooling is the main energy pressure in the Gulf, so the scope matters. The 2035 goal covers mechanical cooling load, not the electricity used by servers themselves. New data centres in the region are designed for a power usage effectiveness rating of 1.5 or lower, and recycled water made up 19.8% of cooling water use in 2025. The build-out is tied to Abu Dhabi's AED13 billion digital strategy, which is pushing government services and AI infrastructure. The open question is whether clean power supply and water reuse can scale as fast as capacity.
