Uniper Targets Data Centre Co-Location at More Than Ten Generation Sites
Germany's state-owned utility sees power-site co-location as a new revenue stream, even as both generation segments posted lower adjusted EBITDA in H1 2026.
Uniper SE identified more than ten of its electricity generation sites as suitable for co-located data centres on Tuesday (2026-08-11), adding a revenue line to a capital programme already earmarked for EUR 5 billion in European investment between 2025 and 2030.5
The announcement came alongside first-half results that told a mixed story. Group adjusted EBITDA more than doubled year-on-year to EUR 711 million for H1 2026, driven largely by the Greener Commodities segment, which swung to EUR 260 million from a loss of EUR 296 million in H1 2025. But both generation divisions moved in the opposite direction: Green Generation contributed EUR 302 million in adjusted EBITDA, down from EUR 420 million, while Flexible Generation delivered EUR 286 million, down from EUR 333 million. Electricity sales volumes fell to 61.6 billion kilowatt hours in H1 2026 from 65.1 billion kilowatt hours a year earlier.5
With generation margins compressing, co-locating data centres at existing power sites offers Uniper a way to monetise grid-connection infrastructure that is already in place. Data centres run at 80 to 90 percent load factors on average, according to ICIS data, making them essentially baseload customers — stable, predictable offtake that complements the variable output of renewable assets and the intermittent dispatch of flexible gas plant.2
Germany is the largest data centre hub in Europe and growing fast. Frankfurt sits within a five-city cluster — alongside London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin — that holds more than 5 GW of combined data centre demand capacity, according to an expert speaking at Montel's German Energy Day on Thursday (2026-05-21). The same expert warned that power and grid constraints, combined with long permit times, could stall German data centre growth after 2031.1
That supply squeeze is where Uniper sees an opening. The company has argued that dispatchable power is indispensable in Germany because of dunkelflaute — extended periods of simultaneous low wind and solar output — and told Montel on Monday (2026-06-01) that new flexible baseload capacity is needed to bridge the intermittency gap. Owning both the power plant and the data centre customer on the same site removes the transmission bottleneck that constrains most hyperscale power deals.4
European data centre operators have been struggling to secure clean power on acceptable terms. PPA volumes across Europe fell to 2.6 GW in 2025 from 4.2 GW in 2024, as offshore wind delays and falling capture rates made pricing difficult, OilPrice.com reported. Co-location with an existing generator bypasses the PPA negotiation entirely, converting the utility into a direct power supplier rather than a contracted counterparty.3
Uniper's balance sheet gives it room to act. Net profit for H1 2026 came in at EUR 557 million, more than double the EUR 267 million posted in H1 2025, with adjusted net profit of EUR 388 million against EUR 135 million a year earlier. Operating cash flow reached EUR 1,982 million and the economic net cash position stood at EUR 4,548 million, Uniper said — a strong position for a utility that entered government ownership during its bailout by Berlin in late 2022. The data centre initiative is additive to the existing EUR 5 billion European plan, not a substitute for it.5
German power day-ahead stood at €125.28 per MWh on Wednesday morning (2026-08-12), with the Q+1 contract at €140.05 per MWh and the Cal+1 at €104.71 per MWh in the same session. The roughly EUR 35 per MWh gap between Q+1 and Cal+1 will bear directly on multi-year supply pricing if Uniper moves to formalise offtake arrangements with data centre tenants.
Uniper has not disclosed which specific sites are under consideration, what megawatt capacity co-location could realistically absorb, or how much capital it intends to deploy beyond the existing envelope. Germany's grid bottleneck cannot be resolved by a single generator. The expert speaking at Montel's German Energy Day placed the potential crunch point at 2031 — precisely when any projects announced now would be entering full-scale operation. Permitting speed, not capital availability, is what sets the ceiling.1,5