Russia’s Most Powerful Data Center to Be Built in Eastern Siberia
Cloud X, a global operator of cloud-based ecosystems, is building Russia’s largest data center in Eastern Siberia. According to the project plans, it will be located near the Ust-Ilimsk Hydroelectric Power Station in the Irkutsk region. The first of three large next-generation data centers is expected to launch in May 2029. It will be Russia’s first hyperscale data center designed from the outset to meet the needs of cloud services and artificial intelligence.
Experts say the project will help expand Russia’s cloud and AI computing capacity while supporting the development of digital services, medicine, science and industry. For the Irkutsk region, the construction is particularly significant: the data center project is expected to create new jobs, strengthen training for IT professionals and engineers, and spur the development of infrastructure around the facility.
Provide AI Infrastructure for the Angaro-Yenisei Cluster
Cloud X, part of En+, is building a data center that will provide AI infrastructure for the Angaro-Yenisei cluster. The parties previously formalized their plans in a cooperation agreement between the Mendeleev Valley Foundation for the Innovative Scientific and Technological Center and CloudSolutions LLC (Cloud X). The Angaro-Yenisei cluster will focus on the deep processing of nonferrous, rare and rare-earth metals, while the agreement with Cloud X covers the creation of the cluster’s digital and computing infrastructure, including data centers, cloud infrastructure, and capacity for high-performance computing and AI workloads.
The data center that Cloud X is building near Ust-Ilimsk will have an electrical capacity of up to 154 MW and accommodate 2,880 server racks. Those figures would set a new Russian record: the country’s largest data center currently, Sberbank’s facility in Balakovo in the Saratov region, has a capacity of just 82 MW.
Build Complex Technology Chains
The Ust-Ilimsk data center will be the first of three similar Cloud X facilities in the region, while the broader project calls for about 450 MW of computing infrastructure. The developer says the architecture of Cloud X data centers and its cloud platform is designed to support a long service life for such facilities despite the rapid evolution of computing technology, the growing power demands of AI workloads and advances in algorithms. That is particularly important because the Angaro-Yenisei cluster will require high-performance computing to build long and complex technology chains, from raw materials and their processing to advanced finished products. Managing those operations will require infrastructure capable of modeling production processes, accounting for material properties and testing the operation of complex industrial facilities.
For the Angaro-Yenisei cluster, working with Cloud X will be an important step toward creating complex production chains with the necessary computing infrastructure and technological foundation. The cluster will also need AI tools for applications ranging from cheminformatics and geological exploration to design systems and production management in mineral extraction and processing.
AI Needs Expand the Geography of Data Centers
The emergence of a data center of this scale is strategically important for Russia. Today, Russian data centers are concentrated mainly around Moscow and St. Petersburg, but that pattern is gradually shifting. According to the investment and analytical agency PKR, the largest amount of investment in 2026 went to four projects, with 170 billion rubles (about $2.0 billion) allocated to the Irkutsk region, followed by projects in Moscow and the Moscow region. The growing use of AI in data centers is changing their geography because training AI models requires enormous amounts of energy and computing power. The Angaro-Yenisei cluster will become a center for the extraction and deep processing of nonferrous, rare and rare-earth metals. AI infrastructure will support the modeling of technological processes, the creation of digital twins, data analysis and the development of new materials. In other words, the project is creating a computing layer for a major industrial and scientific cluster, rather than an isolated data center.
In the longer term, the large-scale project will create Russian AI computing infrastructure outside Moscow and St. Petersburg. That will reduce the concentration of strategically important digital infrastructure in particular parts of the country and allow Siberia’s energy potential to be used more efficiently. The construction boom is also expected to increase demand for Russian-made servers, telecommunications equipment and engineering systems. Once completed, the new data center will provide industrial companies with the computing resources they need.
The government’s position also underscores the relevance of such projects: Industry and Trade Minister Anton Alikhanov proposed to President Vladimir Putin that Russia use a special investment contract for data center construction on the condition that investors purchase Russian-made server and storage equipment. The president supported the proposal.
