The energy company Uniper is building data centers at its own power plant locations, positioning itself as an infrastructure provider for the AI economy. The company has identified more than ten locations with existing grid connections along European data hubs, and a first project in the UK has already been completed. CEO Michael Lewis sees this as a consistent development of the existing power plant areas.
Uniper uses existing grid connections as a location advantage
According to the company, three of the identified projects are already in advanced planning, and further investment decisions are expected to be made throughout the year. “We are thus further developing our power plant locations into sites for the AI economy,” Lewis said, as reported by Handelsblatt. The decisive factor is the grid connection: developers of new data centers in Germany often wait for years for a connection approval, while Uniper already has the necessary infrastructure at many of its power plant locations. The company has not yet named specific cities or types of power plants – the concrete locations are expected to be determined only with the respective investment decisions.
The advantage is significant because data centers require enormous amounts of electricity, and a lack of grid connection regularly hampers new AI data centers in Germany. According to its own statements, competitor RWE is currently developing around ten industrial sites into data centers. Both energy companies are thus competing for the same scarce resource: secured electricity capacity near urban areas, instead of waiting for years for a new grid connection. How scarce this capacity is also shows the recent entry of Nvidia into the power supplier Lancium, which aims to circumvent similar bottlenecks in the USA.
Half-year figures show significant profit jump
The data center plans come at a time of rising profits. Uniper increased its operating result in the first half of 2026 by around ninety percent to 711 million euros, and the adjusted net profit nearly tripled to 388 million euros, as shown by a roundup from Börse.de. The company raises its EBITDA forecast for the entire year to 1.1 to 1.3 billion euros, about 100 million euros more than previously expected at the lower end. The stock rose in response to the news.
The improved earnings situation gives Uniper room for the planned investment decisions regarding the data center projects. This coincides with a general investment wave in European AI infrastructure, for which the EU Commission recently aimed to mobilize additional private capital through a tender for several gigafactories.
The initiative is also unusual due to the ownership structure: the federal government has held more than 99 percent of Uniper’s shares since the rescue of the company in 2022 and has initiated the sale process required by the EU Commission this year. By the end of 2028, the state share must be reduced to a maximum of 25 percent plus one share. Among the buyers mentioned by the federal government is also RWE, according to Handelsblatt – precisely that competitor already competing with Uniper on the data center plans. It will be crucial whether Uniper’s new source of revenue proves viable before a possible change of ownership.
