Mexico Targets US$82.5 Billion Data Center Buildout Through 2031

Mexico is set to allocate US$82.5 billion to data center construction and equipment between 2026 and 2031, according to the Mexican Data Center Association (MEXDC). The industry is also expected to generate nearly 100,000 jobs, but energy and regulatory constraints shape investment execution.

The Mexican Data Center Association (MEXDC) says that US$82.5 billion will be invested in data center construction and equipment between 2026 and 2031. The sector also expects the creation of 98,366 direct and indirect jobs from construction activities and an additional 35,430 positions linked to operations, says Adriana Rivera, Executive Director, MEXDC. The investment pipeline is positioned within a broader shift in North American infrastructure demand driven by AI, cloud computing, and nearshoring expansion.

The expansion of Mexico’s data center industry is being driven by structural changes in supply chains and regional integration under what industry executives described at FibraDay 2026 as “Nearshoring 2.0.” The discussion, moderated by Lyman Daniels, President, CBRE, framed nearshoring not as a cyclical relocation trend but as a structural redesign of production networks across North America. 

This shift is directly increasing demand for digital infrastructure, particularly in industrial corridors where energy, water, and connectivity determine investment viability. Gonzalo Robina, Director General at Fibra UNO, says about 85% of goods produced in the region are consumed within North America, reinforcing the depth of integration and the resulting infrastructure requirements.

Within this context, data centers are increasingly treated as core infrastructure assets rather than standalone technology facilities, with investment decisions tied to long-term industrial and logistics planning.

Energy Capacity Becomes the Main Constraint

Mexico has 279MW of installed data center capacity, with 205MW under construction and 1,730MW announced for future deployment, according to MEXDC. However, Rivera says the system requires about 1.7GW of additional energy capacity to meet projected demand.  “We need 1,700GW to reach the targets announced by companies operating in the country. These are conservative figures,” says Rivera. 

Energy availability is emerging as the primary limiting factor for expansion. At the Mexico Energy Forum 2026, Héctor Sánchez, Director of IBX Operations, Equinix, said developers first evaluate energy availability and transmission capacity before acquiring land. He added that capital expenditures are increasingly driven by private substations and on-site generation systems to guarantee operational continuity.

Sánchez also noted that hyperscale workloads require stable loads, such as 40MW of constant supply, which cannot be reliably supported in regions with grid instability or emergency load shedding events.

Industry data indicates that more than 60% of Mexico’s transmission network operates near maximum capacity, with bottlenecks concentrated in Bajio, Nuevo Leon, and northern border states. In addition, grid reserve margins fell to approximately 3% in May 2024, below the 6% regulatory threshold required for stable operations.

Investment Scale and Regional Competition

MEXDC reports that Mexico’s planned US$82.5 billion investment in data center infrastructure is expected to generate an additional economic impact of US$61.9 billion, based on associated ecosystem development. The association also highlights that the sector has expanded rapidly since 2019, with acceleration during the COVID-19 period when connectivity demand increased sharply.

Rivera says Mexico is structurally positioned to support data center development due to its skilled labor base, which expanded following the USMCA. She adds that the country is adjacent to the largest data center market globally, the United States, which has 5,427 facilities compared to about 50 in Mexico. 

“If I build data centers in Mexico, someone must operate them, someone must construct them, and all of that can be done locally,” says Rivera. However, she also notes that installation costs in Mexico are approximately four times higher than in Brazil, primarily due to electricity system complexity and regulatory structure.

Regulatory Friction and Deployment Timelines

Regulatory timelines are affecting competitiveness. MEXDC estimates that permitting, construction, and equipment installation require approximately five years before a facility becomes operational.

 “Long permitting timelines reduce competitiveness in Mexico. We need regulatory improvement,” says Rivera.

The distribution of existing data centers reflects current infrastructure concentration: Queretaro holds 72% of capacity, followed by Mexico City and its metropolitan area at 10%, Nuevo Leon at 9%, Jalisco at 5%, Guanajuato at 3%, and Yucatan at 1%. In Queretaro alone, companies have invested about US$600 million in additional infrastructure to stabilize energy supply, with portions later integrated into the national grid.

Energy limitations also restrict deployment of advanced digital applications, particularly AI workloads. Rivera says Mexico currently lacks data center infrastructure capable of supporting AI-scale operations, which typically require more than 250MW of dedicated capacity.

“AI cannot operate below 250MW,” says Rivera. “Today there is no data center in Mexico that can support or generate AI systems at that scale.” She adds that Mexico’s largest operational facility, located in Pedro Escobedo, Queretaro, operates at 149MW, below thresholds required for large-scale AI training environments.

This limitation also affects latency-sensitive applications such as autonomous vehicles and remote healthcare systems, which require proximity to high-capacity data centers to ensure real-time processing reliability.