Ardian and Verne Plan 500MW AI Data Centre Hub in €5bn Deal

French private equity firm Ardian and its data centre company Verne have unveiled plans for a large-scale digital infrastructure campus in the Île-de-France region, with ambitions to create a 500MW hub designed to support AI, high-performance computing and industrial workloads across Europe.

Announced at the Choose France conference, the project combines Ardian’s infrastructure investment capabilities with Verne’s experience in low-carbon data centre operations. The development is expected to attract investment of up to €5bn (US$5.82bn) and forms part of wider efforts to expand European computing capacity and digital infrastructure.

The planned campus will be located within one of France’s largest industrial areas and will provide infrastructure for AI model training, high-performance computing (HPC) and advanced industrial applications. An initial phase of more than 200MW is targeted by 2030, with the site ultimately designed to reach 500MW.

According to the companies, the development will utilise France’s energy infrastructure and low-carbon electricity supply through collaboration with grid operator RTE and EDF Group.

The project is also intended to support the AION consortium’s bid for a French Gigafactory under the European Union’s AI Gigafactories initiative.

Building capacity for AI and industrial computing

The new campus is designed to serve a broad range of sectors that increasingly depend on large-scale computing resources.

Ardian and Verne say the facility will support the full AI value chain, from the provision of computing power through to applications across healthcare, financial services, energy and research.

The companies state that the platform will be tailored to support high-performance computing environments while maintaining a focus on sustainability and operational efficiency.

The development is expected to be delivered in collaboration with a range of public and private sector organisations. Government agencies, regional authorities and local stakeholders are involved in discussions around the project, alongside major French businesses including Bouygues Group and Crédit Agricole.

As planning progresses, Ardian and Verne also intend to attract technology companies, industrial organisations and academic institutions to participate in the campus ecosystem.

Creating a digital infrastructure ecosystem

Beyond the data centre itself, the companies are positioning the campus as a wider digital infrastructure hub.

The project aims to bring together infrastructure operators, energy providers, technology firms, research organisations and higher education institutions within a single location. The intention is to support collaboration around AI development, computing technologies and industrial innovation.

The partners expect the project to create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs spanning construction, operations and associated supply chains.

For the data centre sector, the initiative highlights the growing convergence between digital infrastructure, energy systems and industrial policy as European markets seek to expand domestic computing capacity.

“Ardian’s strategy of investing in both essential digital and energy infrastructure is aligned with the European needs to strengthen its strategic capabilities and accelerate its progress toward digital sovereignty,” said Mathias Burghardt, Executive President of Ardian and CEO of Ardian France.

“It perfectly demonstrates Ardian visionary approach by committing simultaneously €3bn in new renewable energy investment in France representing the same baseload consumption of new digital infrastructure development. By bringing together our industrial and financial knowledge with an ecosystem of leading French industrial partners, our ambition is to build a benchmark platform in the Île-de-France region gathering digital, industrial and research serving Europe.”

Linking data centres and energy infrastructure

A key element of the development is its connection to Ardian’s broader infrastructure strategy.

The investment firm focuses on sectors including digital infrastructure, energy and transport, and argues that growth in high-performance computing must be matched by investment in energy capacity.

Alongside the new digital infrastructure project, Ardian says it is investing up to €3bn (US$3.5bn) in French energy infrastructure through portfolio companies including Akuo and GreenYellow. Those investments are expected to add 2.5GW of renewable energy capacity to the grid by 2030.

Verne says the planned French campus represents an important step in expanding European computing infrastructure designed specifically for AI applications.

“This project marks a strategic milestone in Verne’s development as a leading European platform for digital infrastructure dedicated to artificial intelligence and high-performance computing,” said Dominic Ward, CEO of Verne and Roland Chedlivili, Managing Director of Verne France, in a joint statement.

“It illustrates our ambition to establish infrastructure in France capable of meeting the needs of major European industrial and technology players. We are building competitive and sustainable European AI backbone of our economy.”

The first phase of the project is targeted for delivery by 2030 as Ardian and Verne advance plans for the campus in collaboration with industrial, energy and public sector partners across France.