OVHcloud's Gravelines campus in northern France is one of the country's main data center sites outside the Paris region. For developers and lenders looking at the Dunkirk-Gravelines area, it is both a benchmark and a signal of what the territory offers and demands.
THE CAMPUS IN BRIEF
OVHcloud has operated the site since 2011, inside the Port of Dunkirk, on a former can factory. According to the regional environmental authority, one building hosts three operating data centers, GRA1, GRA2 and GRA3 (partly fitted out as GRA3.1 and GRA3.2). The expansion covers GRA3.3, GRA3.4 and GRA4, adding about 145,000 servers to the existing 117,000. The permit file provides for 69 diesel backup generators, making the site a classified installation; the 2022 file cited about 182 MW of total thermal capacity at completion. The environmental authorisation was granted on 24 September 2025. OVHcloud reported 40 MW of site power in 2019 after adding a further high-voltage line; current connected capacity is not published in detail.
WHAT IT SAYS ABOUT THE LOCAL GRID
A campus of this size shows the area can host large loads. It does not show that capacity remains available: what OVHcloud, heavy industry and new energy projects already use is not available to a newcomer. Above roughly 40 MW a project will generally be connected by RTE at HTB, with a multi-year, site-specific timeline. The Dunkirk area includes State-prepared fast-track sites, but that route only applies to identified sites and very large loads. See which grid document actually secures a site.
EQUIPMENT AND THE ENERGY CONTEXT
Power transformers still run about 20–32 months from second-tier European makers and 48–60 months or more from majors such as Hitachi Energy or Siemens Energy (our tracker). Gravelines also hosts EDF's six-reactor nuclear plant and two planned EPR2 units of about 1,600 MW each; a decree published in August 2026 allowed EDF to start preparatory works, for a construction period of around 12 to 15 years. For a nearby data center, that means competition for land, labour and grid capacity, a population already engaged in the EPR2 consultation, and nearby Seveso industrial sites.
WHAT TO CHECK BEFORE COMMITTING
The connection document held, its date and the capacity steps
Transformer and switchgear lead times and order dates
Constraints from neighbouring classified installations and industrial risks
Local context: EPR2 consultation, elected officials, residents
See our lender due diligence and electrical and standards audit.
Sources: Hauts-de-France regional environmental authority opinions (2023 and October 2025 update), Nord prefecture public inquiry report (2024), SPPPI file (2022), OVHcloud blog (2019 data centre review), regional prefecture and press (AFP, August 2026) for EPR2. Unpublished technical data is not included.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Where is OVH's Gravelines data center?
In Gravelines, northern France, inside the Port of Dunkirk, on a former can factory taken over by OVHcloud in 2011.
Can a new data center connect easily near Gravelines?
A large campus shows the grid can host large loads, not that capacity remains. Only a grid operator study, then an accepted PTF, can tell.