A heavyweight in high-performance computing is poised to establish itself in France. Verne, the durable data-center specialist acquired by Ardian, will deploy a mega-campus of 500 megawatts (MW) in the Île-de-France region.
Unveiled at the Choose France summit, this €5 billion project aims to position itself as a strategic infrastructure for European digital and industrial sovereignty.
While the exact site remains confidential, the project’s scale is firmly defined. This next-generation digital-infrastructure campus aims to equip Europe with massive industrial capabilities to support the growth of artificial intelligence. The site will host facilities dedicated to high-performance computing (HPC), to training large AI models, and to advanced industrial applications.
The industrial timetable unfolds in two stages:
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Horizon 2030: Delivery of an initial tranche of over 200 MW (including an initial 50 MW phase awarded to Verne).
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Horizon 2035-2037: Reaching the full target capacity of 500 MW. Ultimately, this Île-de-France cluster will be Verne’s largest site, with a capacity equivalent to the combined output of its Nordic centers.
To finance this push, Ardian relies on its $20 billion infrastructure vehicle raised in 2025. The French fund will provide the majority of the capital.
France’s Energy Edge
As demand from hyperscalers and major industrial players explodes, France is showcasing advantages for investors. “AI sits at the heart of its economic priorities, and energy is abundant and decarbonized,” explains Gonzague Boutry, head of Europe investments in Ardian’s digital infrastructure arm.
To secure the electricity supply for this digital titan, Ardian and Verne have been collaborating for more than a year with RTE and EDF. This strategy fits into a broader energy-transition approach. In parallel, via its Akuo and GreenYellow platforms, Ardian is investing €3 billion to connect 2.5 GW of renewable capacities in France by 2030, equivalent to the campus’s base-load consumption.
The project is designed to structure a complete ecosystem covering the entire AI value chain, from computing power to industrial use cases (health, research, finance, energy). Developed in partnership with the state and the Île-de-France region, it involves major French groups such as Bouygues and Crédit Agricole.
Discussions also address grid interconnection and the reuse of the waste heat generated by the servers. In terms of employment, the construction phase is expected to mobilize up to 2,000 jobs, before settling at 350 to 400 direct and indirect jobs in the long term for the operating phase.
The Cornerstone of the European AION Consortium
This Île-de-France project does not arise in isolation. It stands as one of the pillars of the AION project, a consortium bringing together Ardian, EDF with Orange, Iliad and Scaleway. This ambitious plan envisions €10 billion in investments to deploy one gigawatt of power in France.
Within this framework, the capacity of the first tranche will be split equally (50-50) between Verne and Scaleway. The AION consortium will position this campus to bid for future European Commission tenders, which aim to bring forth “AI Gigafactories” at the continent-wide scale.
Already planted in Iceland, Finland and the United Kingdom (with Norway and Denmark soon to follow), Verne takes a decisive step. “The idea is to build a European platform capable of meeting these new computing needs,” summarizes Mathias Burghardt, general manager of Ardian France. “We are building the European backbone for a competitive and sustainable AI,” conclude Dominic Ward and Roland Chedlivili, who lead Verne.
