Clifford Chance

As geopolitical focus intensifies around technology leadership, data sovereignty and environmental considerations, data centres and their role in the global digital economy are in the spotlight. Governments around the world are introducing or upgrading policies intended to boost digital infrastructure, including incentivising the development of data centres.

Recent global developments accelerating the push for geographical diversification of semiconductor production include positioning Mexico as a primary destination for the chip manufacturing industry over the next decade. Companies will seek to take advantage of recently announced tax incentives, an abundance of low labor costs and proximity to the U.S. as they advance nearshoring agendas.

With the rise of AI, demand for data continues to grow exponentially raising questions as to how the rapid roll-out and development of data centres will be financed over the next five to 10 years. Clifford Chance lawyers from across infrastructure finance, project finance, real estate finance and asset backed finance discussed the innovative financing structures we see for data centres including Europe’s first public data centre ABS and shared views on financing trends in the digital infrastructure sector.     

The energy transition requires a massive and increased rate of investment from both the public and the private sectors. Here we explore some trends which will shape the year ahead, focusing on the innovations and legal developments that we are seeing in clean hydrogen, carbon capture and storage, green fuels, carbon pricing, digital transformation, innovative finance and incentives to mobilise capital.

This briefing examines some of the legal considerations arising from the relationship between the energy transition and digital transformation in these contexts.

Partner Nadia Kalic explores the concept of Smart Cities.