PSM ATLAS: New Platform Is to Reshape Russia’s Data Center Geography
Russia’s data center market is facing a shortage of available power capacity, even as suitable sites exist near accessible generation. A catalog of those sites could help address the gap.
PSM, an engineering company, has announced a platform designed to connect data center developers and operators, investors, and landowners with available electrical capacity. The platform will also cover sites where capacity limits exist for building new standalone generation.
PSM ATLAS will serve as a commercial intermediary for all interested market participants. Each site considered suitable for data center development will be assessed for its energy potential, including existing power sources, available and target capacity, as well as constraints and risks. Company team will develop a concept and development scenarios for each site and help prepare an investment proposal. Existing data centers will also be added to the database. For example, owners of mining projects will be able to assess whether their existing infrastructure can be upgraded for AI computing.
All data held in the platform’s database will be strictly confidential. Potential investors will receive access only after the site owner gives consent and the parties sign an appropriate nondisclosure agreement.
The shortage of available power capacity is now a major constraint on the data center industry. The System Operator of the Unified Power System estimates that existing data centers consume 4 GW, while demand could reach 12 GW over the medium term. The main shortage is in Moscow and St. Petersburg, which account for about 85% of existing computing capacity. The queue for new grid connections is already booked years in advance. At the same time, uncoordinated construction of new data centers in locations where some power capacity remains available only adds to the imbalance. PSM ATLAS is intended to help correct that imbalance, and the benefits could extend beyond industry participants. Additional data center capacity would also support the continued expansion of digital services used by consumers.
Growth Through Regions and On-Site Generation
The biggest potential for PSM ATLAS lies within Russia itself. Demand for new, higher-capacity racks continues to grow in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as do their costs. Outside the two largest metropolitan areas, however, attractive sites are available, many of them close to major power hubs or offering potential for their own gas-fired generation.
Sites for data center construction in Siberia and the Russian Far East are particularly significant, with major projects already under way in Primorsky and Khabarovsky krays. Given the global shortage of data center capacity, these regions also have strong export potential. Foreign investors could lease racks in Russian data centers, while lower-cost Russian generation could make operating those facilities substantially cheaper.
From Investment Maps to Energy Specialization
Market demand is driving the development of new tools, and services with a logic similar to PSM ATLAS have emerged in recent years. In 2024, for example, the Investitsionnaya karta Rossii (Russian Investment Map) was launched. It contains information on more than 16,000 privately and publicly owned sites. About 300 have already been sold or leased. The investment map, however, is not narrowly specialized and is designed to serve different types of businesses.
The situation is further complicated by a law establishing a state registry of Russian data centers that took effect on March 1, 2026. The registry contains information on existing facilities, including their commissioning dates, number of rack positions and technological capacity. PSM ATLAS, by contrast, is specifically focused on energy-intensive digital infrastructure, allowing it to assess potentially attractive sites before construction begins. With energy-sector representatives already calling for new data center projects to take the power system’s overall balance into account, the platform could become a practical tool for all market participants.
Potential Project Impact
The effectiveness and market demand for PSM ATLAS should become clearer in the near future. If the database accumulates a sufficient number of actual sites and investor requests, it could significantly reduce the time needed to identify suitable locations and encourage new data center construction in regions with surplus power capacity.
