Opinion by British entrepreneur Dinesh Dhamija
Romania stands at a pivotal moment to transform itself into a leading European data centre hub. With strategic geography, competitive costs, abundant renewable and nuclear potential, and access to major transport and port corridors, the country is uniquely positioned to attract hyperscalers, cloud providers, and regional enterprises seeking resilient, low-latency, and cost-efficient infrastructure.
Why Romania has strong potential
Romania’s central-eastern European location offers rapid connectivity to both Western and Central Europe, making it ideal for latency-sensitive and multi-region redundant deployments. Land, construction, and labor costs remain significantly lower than in the Nordics, Netherlands, or Ireland. Key ports, like Constanța, along with navigable rivers, provide logistic advantages, while vast opportunities exist to expand fiber, grid infrastructure, and renewables. Nuclear capacity, particularly with 4th generation small modular reactors, could provide stable, carbon-free baseload energy to power the next generation of data centres.
Key barriers to address
Despite these advantages, Romania faces hurdles. Grid capacity and stability remain uneven in some regions, permitting processes are slow and complex, and PPA laws need streamlining. Workforce expansion is critical, both for operations and for engineering talent, and the country must differentiate itself from well-established hubs in the Nordics, Ireland, and the Netherlands.
Strategic pillars and recommended actions:
- Policy & regulation
Fast-track permitting (<90 days for greenfield sites), establish pre-zoned data centre parks, and provide investment incentives including tax relief, accelerated depreciation, and R&D credits. Clear data sovereignty and cross-border policies will reassure hyperscalers and financial services. Accelerating nuclear and renewable energy deployment is essential to secure reliable, low-carbon power. - Energy & sustainability
Promote long-term renewable PPAs, prioritize grid connections for data centre parks, and support pilot projects in immersion cooling, modular designs, and flexible energy management. - Connectivity & network resilience
Expand dark fiber backbones, municipal metro rings, and position Constanța as a regional cable landing point. Enable off-grid solutions powered by gas, solar, or wind. - Infrastructure & sites
Create designated DC zones, support edge site development in major cities, and foster local modular/prefabricated data centre manufacturing. - Talent, education & R&D
Launch national upskilling programs for technicians, engineers, and cloud architects. Partner with universities on applied research in cooling, energy efficiency, and AI infrastructure. - Finance & incentives
Offer matched grants for green energy investments tied to data centres and provide guarantees to de-risk hyperscaler commitments. - Security, compliance & resilience
Implement multi-region redundancy and disaster recovery corridors within Romania and across the EU. - Branding & market positioning
Market Romania as a “Green, Low-Latency, Cost-Competitive EU Data Hub.” Target hyperscalers, regional CDNs, financial services, telcos, and AI training clusters. Organize investor roadshows, one-stop portals, and rapid site tours to accelerate investment.
Lessons from Europe
Romania can learn from the Nordics’ renewable-driven approach, the Netherlands and Ireland’s investor-friendly regulatory environments, and Finland/Norway’s green energy and waste-heat reuse models. Romania’s differentiators—competitive costs, strategic location, and a rapidly developing energy and fiber ecosystem—can position it as the next-generation data centre leader in Europe.
By aligning policy, infrastructure, talent, and finance with market needs, Romania has the potential not only to attract global hyperscalers but also to become a regional engine for digital innovation and economic growth.
About Dinesh Dhamija
Dinesh Dhamija is a British entrepreneur of Indian origin, politician, and philanthropist, best known as the founder of the online travel agency eBookers.
Among his philanthropic activities is his involvement in various charitable organizations, including TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs), where he has held senior positions.
Dinesh Dhamija is also the founder of Shiksha, a charitable organization that provides higher education opportunities for underprivileged young people in India — a significant effort to support access to education for those who would otherwise be deprived of it.
He was elected to the European Parliament in the 2019 elections, representing the London region, and served until the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union.
The well-known businessman Dinesh Dhamija shares his insights on philanthropy, investment, and entrepreneurship in his autobiography, Book It! The book tells the story of his journey in building a £100 million fortune, becoming over time one of the wealthiest Asians residing in the United Kingdom. It includes chapters dedicated to his years at Cambridge, his philanthropic endeavors, and his passion for golf, as well as his investment and entrepreneurship strategies.
