Data Centres & Digital Infrastructure
For data centre developers, operators and investors. We tie energised, contracted and billed megawatts into one model that shows when each hall starts to earn.
Our perspective
A data centre earns nothing until three dates line up: the day the grid connection is energised, the day the hall is fitted out and the day a tenant's racks go live. Most developers hold those dates in different places, the power position in a connection tracker, construction in a programme file and contracted capacity in a sales pipeline, so the board and the lenders see three versions of when revenue starts. Over the next decade the scarce input is power, and the businesses that win will be the ones that know, week by week, which megawatts are deliverable and which are already sold. We build that record from the source documents and keep it current as dates move.
Market signals
01
The IEA expects data centre electricity consumption to more than double to around 945 TWh by 2030, slightly more than Japan's total electricity use today. In advanced economies, data centres account for more than 20% of electricity demand growth to 2030.
02
The IEA estimates that around 20% of planned data centre projects could be delayed by grid constraints. In its 2025 report, wait times for transformers and cables had doubled over the previous three years, and new transmission lines took four to eight years to build in advanced economies.
03
In September 2024 the UK government designated data centres as Critical National Infrastructure, the first new designation since space and defence in 2015. It estimated the sector's revenues at £4.6 billion a year.
How we help clients
Capacity and revenue ramp model
TF-08FinanceOne model per campus linking each hall's energisation date, fit-out, contracted megawatts and billing start. When a transformer delivery slips, the deferred revenue and the effect on covenant headroom appear in the same week, not at the next lender report.
Site and market entry assessment
TF-01StrategyA comparison of candidate locations on grid availability and queue position, land and planning status, power price, connectivity and tenant demand. We recommend one main site and one alternative, with the assumptions that would change the order written down.
Tenant pipeline and pricing
TF-04GrowthA pipeline that records each prospect's power requirement, rack density, term and price per kilowatt, so sales can see which deals fit which hall and which would strand capacity. Pricing decisions then rest on contracted yield per megawatt.
Operational and billing data
TF-06Technology & DataBuilding management, power metering, ticketing and billing exports brought into one reporting layer. Power usage effectiveness, water use and tenant power billing are calculated from the meter reads, with any gap between metered and invoiced power listed for follow-up.
Energy and water reporting readiness
TF-11SustainabilityA data inventory for the EU data centre reporting scheme, which covers sites with an IT power demand of 500 kW or more, and for customer sustainability questionnaires. Each figure is traced to a meter or an invoice before it is reported.
Supplier and continuity registers
TF-10RiskRegisters of critical suppliers, maintenance contractors and single points of failure in the supply chain, with lead times and alternatives, prepared so operators can answer the questions that come with critical infrastructure status.
What changes next
Queue position depends on readiness
Grid operators in Great Britain and several EU markets are reordering connection queues around evidence of land rights, planning and progress rather than application date. Over the next 12 to 18 months developers will need a dated, documented readiness record for every site, or risk losing their place.
Higher rack densities change the fit-out
AI workloads push rack densities beyond what many existing halls were designed to cool. Capital cost per megawatt, the choice between air and liquid cooling and which halls can take which tenants will vary more between projects, and the revenue model has to carry those differences hall by hall.
Reporting becomes an obligation
The EU reporting scheme asks larger sites for annual energy, water and heat-reuse figures, and the UK plans to bring data centres into the network and information systems regime as essential services. Operators that already reconcile meter data to invoices will find both easier to meet.
Business challenges
01
Three versions of the go-live date
Construction, power and sales each keep their own date for when a hall goes live. Lenders and investors receive whichever version was to hand, and the differences surface as missed forecasts.
02
Capacity sold before it is deliverable
Sales teams can contract megawatts against a connection that has not been energised. When the date slips, the business carries service-credit exposure that nobody priced into the deal.
03
Metered power and billed power drift apart
Tenant billing often uses contracted power or manual meter reads. Without a monthly reconciliation, under-billing and disputed invoices go unnoticed until year-end.
04
Component lead times outside the plan
Transformers, switchgear and generators now carry lead times that can exceed the construction programme. A register that does not track them leaves the critical path to the suppliers.
Where the opportunity sits
One dated record per megawatt
Tying each megawatt to its connection, fit-out, contract and billing status gives the board a single go-live forecast and shows exactly which slip moves revenue.
Yield-based pricing
Recording contracted revenue per megawatt by tenant type, density and term shows which deals earn the most from scarce power, which is the decision pricing should rest on.
Reporting built once
A metered data layer that feeds tenant billing, regulatory reporting and customer questionnaires removes the separate spreadsheet each one usually needs.
How we approach it
We start read-only with the records that define a megawatt: connection offers and correspondence, construction programmes, supplier orders, tenant contracts, metering and billing data. We follow one hall from connection offer to first invoice and note where dates and figures are retyped between systems. Findings become a prioritised task list, each item with an owner and an acceptance check. If the client wants us to build, the same team delivers the model, the reporting layer and the registers, documented and left in the client's own accounts, with partners from our network added where the work needs specialist depth. Electrical, mechanical and cooling design, grid connection applications and engineering sign-off, safety and security certification, planning applications, valuations and legal or tax advice stay with qualified engineers, the network operator and the client's own advisers.
How our experience is evidenced
Data centres and digital infrastructure form a frontier sector where THEFOCUS applies its capabilities in financial modelling, data, reporting and market entry. No anonymised engagement in this sector is published, and no results are claimed.
How an engagement with THEFOCUS starts
A first conversation is about your situation. If there is a fit, we propose a scoped diagnostic with a fixed deliverable before any larger commitment.
Discuss this with us01
A working conversation
Forty-five minutes with the person who would lead the work. We ask about the decision, the systems behind it and the deadline.
02
A scoped diagnostic
Read-only access, a fixed timeframe and a written finding: what the records show, what it costs and what to change first.
03
A plan you can act on
Changes, owners, measures and exclusions in writing. The same team then builds and measures, or hands over cleanly.
- One accountable team
- The people who diagnose also build the systems and measure the result.
- Partners chosen per problem
- Independent specialists join for the parts that need them, under one contract.
- Records before dashboards
- Orders, ledgers and logs are reconciled before any recommendation depends on them.
Questions executives ask
Do you design data centres or manage grid connection applications?
No. Design, connection applications and engineering sign-off belong to engineers and the network operator. We build the commercial and data layer around their work: the dated record of what is deliverable, what is sold and what it earns.
Have you worked with data centre operators?
No anonymised engagement in this sector is published. We apply the modelling, data and reporting methods we use in other asset-heavy sectors, and a proposal would state which parts of the scope we have delivered before.
Can you prepare figures for the EU data centre reporting scheme?
We can build the data inventory and the calculations from your meters and invoices, with each figure traceable to its source. Submission and any assurance of the reported figures remain with you and your auditors.
What would a first piece of work look like?
Usually a read-only review of one campus, ending with a single go-live forecast per hall, the list of dates that disagree between teams and a prioritised plan to fix the records behind them.
Discuss this with us
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