22OCT

Nebius signs for up to 50 MW at NEOM

2 min read

16:40UTC

Nebius signed a preliminary framework with HUMAIN and DataVolt to take up to 50 MW at the Oxagon campus in NEOM, with capacity due from late 2027.

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IndustryAssessed

Key takeaway

Nebius is the first named tenant for Saudi Arabia's Oxagon AI campus, under a preliminary deal.

Nebius, an Amsterdam-based AI cloud company, signed a preliminary framework agreement on 21 October to take up to 50 MW at the Oxagon campus in NEOM, Saudi Arabia's Red Sea development zone⁠¹. Its counterparties are HUMAIN, the AI company of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and DataVolt, a Saudi data-centre developer. Capacity is due in phases from the fourth quarter of 2027. NEOM's release calls it "contemplated offtake" and does not say whether it binds. In August Nebius agreed to take high-density capacity at Vantage's CWL1 campus in Newport, Wales.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

NEOM is a huge development zone Saudi Arabia is building on its Red Sea coast. Oxagon is one part of it, where Saudi companies are building a large data centre for artificial intelligence (AI): buildings full of computer chips. The builders are HUMAIN, an AI company owned by Saudi Arabia's national investment fund, and DataVolt, a Saudi data-centre developer. They have signed an early agreement with Nebius, a cloud computing company based in Amsterdam. Nebius may rent up to 50 megawatts of capacity there, enough to run a large AI operation. The agreement is preliminary, and the space would become available in stages from late 2027.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

Very large campuses need named tenants before they can raise money for later phases. Oxagon targets 1.5 GW, so its sponsors need offtake announcements early, even preliminary ones.

Cloud companies such as Nebius own few sites of their own and rent capacity where power is available. That makes them the natural first tenants for new campuses, and also tenants who can choose between several markets.

What could happen next?

Consequence
HUMAIN and DataVolt can present Nebius as the campus's first customer to other tenants and lenders.
Risk
If the framework is not converted into a binding lease, the first phase lacks a committed tenant.

Source Landscape

This story draws on neutral-leaning sources from Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

Primary parallel: On 13 August Vantage Data Centers and Nebius announced that Nebius would take high-density capacity at Vantage's CWL1 campus in Newport, the first announced commercial commitment in the South Wales AI Growth Zone. Nebius again plays first tenant for a new AI zone.

Counter-parallel: Microsoft's withdrawal from Nscale's Loughton site in Essex this week shows the other outcome for an anchor tenant: the buyer leaves before the site draws power.

The 50 MW is half of the initial 100 MW under construction, which sits inside a 360 MW first phase of a campus targeting 1.5 GW, DCD reported. Nebius's share is therefore about 3% of the planned campus.

The release gives no contract value, chip count, energy mix or cooling method. Nebius is expected to deploy Nvidia hardware, and the deal was signed on the sidelines of Nvidia's GTC conference in Berlin.

Consensus view: DataVolt chief executive Rajit Nanda said speed to market and infrastructure cost will decide the winners in AI computing, and NEOM's release cites local competitive energy. The Saudi pitch is cheap power delivered fast, and a named Western tenant is the proof the sponsors wanted; Arab News describes Nebius as HUMAIN's first customer for the campus.

Counter-view: The release calls the deal a preliminary framework for contemplated offtake and does not say it binds. A first customer without binding terms gives lenders little to finance against, and this week Microsoft's exit from Nscale's Loughton site showed even a signed anchor can leave.

Key tension: Whether the framework becomes a binding lease before capacity arrives from the fourth quarter of 2027.

First Reported In

Update #17 · Stalled power line cuts A$140m from NEXTDC guidance

NEOM· 22 Oct 2026

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Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.