The rapid development of data centers, particularly those intended for artificial intelligence (AI) workloads , is positioning Mexico as a strategic market in Latin America, but it is also revealing deep gaps in energy supply, engineering capabilities, and supply chain readiness.

Turner & Townsend ‘s Data Centre Construction Cost Index 2025-2026 warns that 2026 will be a turning point for the industry, driven by the transition to high-density architectures and the increasing use of liquid cooling, a technology that is not yet fully available in the domestic supply chain.

The survey included in the report reveals that 83% of industry experts do not believe that supply chains in Mexico are ready to support the advanced cooling technologies required by next-generation data centers.

The energy challenge is at the heart of the debate. According to Turner & Townsend, energy availability is now the main risk factor for delivering projects on time and within budget, in a context where delays in connecting to the electrical grid have become increasingly frequent.

In this regard, according to Diana Vázquez Castañeda, Energy and Sustainability Coordinator of the Mexican Association of Private Industrial Parks (AMPIP) , the association has 477 industrial parks in 28 states and 103 new parks under construction have been identified, aligned with the federal government’s Mexico Plan.

To highlight the problem, the AMPIP executive pointed out that, to operate by the end of 2025, the parks required between 13 and 15 GW of additional installed capacity and warned that, although 90% of the parks operate within the regulated market, the country’s transmission and distribution infrastructure has critical areas for improvement.

“The strategy we need to meet these energy needs is tremendous. The national infrastructure is not growing at the same pace as our needs,” he said.

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