Offer · Technical due diligence for lenders and funds
You are financing or investing in a data center project. We check independently what its commissioning depends on: grid connection, high-voltage equipment, permits and local context.
You receive:
- an opinion on the energisation date and its assumptions
- the status of connection documents and permits
- risks on long-lead equipment, transformers and switchgear
- a note for your committee, with the conditions to set
First conversation confidential and with no commitment. Fixed fees proposed in writing before any assignment. Best-efforts obligation.
Open calculator: estimate what a month of delay costs.
Download or fill in: your project readiness scorecard (12 questions).
Compute ordered is not compute installed.
How an engagement runs: framing call, NDA, fixed-fee proposal →
Capital is committed on day one. Revenue starts when the site is energised. Everything in between is physical: a grid connection to secure, high-voltage equipment to procure, permits to clear, and a local community that can challenge the project. That gap is where AI data center financings now go wrong, and it is rarely where a standard technical adviser looks hardest.
GridReadiness gives lenders, infrastructure funds, private credit and acquirers an independent view of the three physical risks between signing and energisation, for assets in France and across Europe.
Where the delivery gap opens
Indicative ranges from GridReadiness market tracking, 2026. Each gate must clear before capacity earns revenue.
WHY THIS MATTERS NOW
The warning signs are already in the market. Loans on Oracle's New Mexico campus were reported trading around 90 cents while the project waits on a single gas pipeline permit. In France, RTE has reserved close to 18 GW of grid capacity for around 80 data center projects, part of which will never be built. Major transformer manufacturers quote 48 to 60 months or more. And several French projects are facing legal challenges or local campaigns. None of these risks appears on a GPU purchase order.
The banks now say the same. In September 2026, Morgan Stanley estimated a US power shortfall of 33 GW through 2028 even after onsite generation, and Goldman Sachs expects only around half of scheduled US capacity to be delivered on time over two years. In August, Morgan Stanley's strategists argued that community opposition must now be "underwritten like land, power, or labor".
Academic research points the same way. A paper presented at the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity conference in September 2026 finds that AI data center projects are increasingly financed off balance sheet, with project debt reaching around 90% of asset value in the largest deals, and names execution (power access, permits, local opposition, equipment supply) as one of the main vulnerabilities for creditors. See what it means for lenders.
Following listed operators' sites in France? See our site tracker for investors.
WHAT WE CHECK
| Risk | What we review | Red flags we look for |
|---|---|---|
| Grid connection | RTE or Enedis offer, queue position, works schedule, cost, contractual milestones | Unsigned offer, conditional capacity, works dependent on third-party reinforcements |
| Connection transferability | Which company holds the PTF, applicable version of RTE's general conditions, annual queue review, reduction mechanism for unused capacity | PTF held outside the acquired perimeter, planned transfer to a third party, site fill-up slower than contracted capacity steps |
| HV equipment | Transformer and switchgear procurement status, supplier, delivery slot, alternatives | No confirmed slot, single supplier, delivery after the grid date |
| Permits and community | Completeness of the regulatory sequence, challenge windows, pending proceedings, local opposition | Open authorisations, irregular permit posting, organised opposition, election exposure |
New in 2026: the EU A–G rating. Since the Commission adopted a common rating for data centres in September 2026, we also review the energy (PUE) and water (WUE) classes a project is designed for, and its exposure to the minimum performance standards expected from 2027. See what the EU rating means for lenders.
Further reading, the series "The data center through an investor's eyes": avoiding a stranded asset, Article 9 and EU taxonomy, PUE and value, retrofitting existing sites.
FROM THE GROUND TO THE FINANCIAL MODEL
A technical finding only helps a committee once it is quantified. Each point found on the ground is translated into financing terms.
| Finding on the ground | Financial consequence | What we recommend |
|---|---|---|
| Energisation later than the date in the model | First revenues pushed back, longer construction period, weaker debt service coverage in the early years | A scenario-based date, a suitable liquidity reserve, a condition precedent on the grid connection |
| Transformers or switchgear not ordered | Price escalation risk, underestimated capex contingency, knock-on delays | A confirmed delivery slot before drawdown, a realistic contingency |
| Connection granted in capacity steps | Slower revenue ramp-up than the plan or the lease | Align the leasing schedule and the debt profile with the steps |
| Delivery date promised to the tenant hard to meet | Penalties, tenant termination rights, weaker contracted revenues | Test the lease delivery clauses against the real timeline |
| Permits still open to appeal, local opposition | Delay of unknown length, stranded asset risk | A condition precedent on appeals being cleared |
| Energy class targeted by the design (EU A–G rating) | Exit value, refinancing terms | Measure exposure to the minimum performance expected from 2027 |
This translation is led by Frédéric Arnaud, former financial auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers, with the experts who made the findings on the ground. We do not build the financial model: we check the assumptions it rests on. See also business plan review.
Segro project at Le Bourget (north of Paris): cancelled
BXIA project in Bordeaux: cancelled
These cases, reported by La Tribune on 10 November 2026, are a reminder that a permit granted is not a permit secured. Before any commitment, we check appeal periods, ongoing litigation, relations with the municipality and the level of local opposition. See local acceptance.
DELIVERABLES
Red-flag review. A short, decision-oriented report on the three risks, with a clear view on schedule realism. Suited to screening before an investment committee.
Full technical due diligence report. Detailed analysis of the connection offer, equipment plan and permitting file, with a probability-weighted energisation date and recommended conditions precedent.
Construction-phase monitoring. Milestone tracking for drawdown decisions: grid works progress, equipment delivery, permit status.
WHO WE WORK FOR
Senior lenders and debt funds, infrastructure and real estate funds, private credit, family offices, and buyers of data center platforms or development portfolios. We work alongside legal counsel and the lenders' technical adviser, not in place of them.
Acquiring an operating site. The review also covers the condition of the facilities, the power really available versus contracted power, and the operator's regulatory obligations: see operations audit.
Advisory firms and investment banks. You run the due diligence and need technical experts on the ground: see our technical partner offer.
Financial institutions and DORA. To assess the resilience of your own data centers and hosting providers, see DORA assessment.
WHY INDEPENDENT
We sell no equipment, earn no commissions and have no stake in the projects we review. Our work combines market intelligence on grid and equipment lead times with senior high-voltage engineers from our network for field and document review. And if one of our experts is on assignment with a developer or an EPC contractor, we do not carry out the due diligence of that same project for a lender, nor support the host community on it.
Further reading: What lenders miss in AI data center due diligence and Compute ordered is not compute installed.
After the deal, the review continues as the site integration plan: see our post-acquisition technical integration offer.
Analysis: stranded compute risk.
Delay scenarios and their impact on go-live
Counterparty strength: tenants, buyers, contractors, given tighter credit
Post-financing monitoring, with a technical opinion before each drawdown
See also: lender’s technical advisor, distressed acquisitions, the neocloud credit squeeze.
Fast check before an offer: is the power claim backed by a document?.
To test a business plan against the real timeline: business plan review.
Source: TechCrunch, 30 October 2026, citing the Financial Times, The Information and Bloomberg.
HOW IT WORKS
WHAT WE COMMIT TO
Review of connection documents and the announced energisation date for a European data center developer, ahead of its investment decision. Audit of high-voltage equipment sourcing for a petrochemical group.
We do not design, build or sell equipment. No commission, no brokerage. Never on both sides of the same project.
Confidentiality agreement before any document. Professional liability insurance. Best-efforts obligation: only RTE and Enedis commit to capacity and a date.
WHO IS INVOLVED
Frédéric Arnaud
Financing & due diligence
Former PwC financial auditor, business school training in finance (NEOMA). Reviews the business plan, financing assumptions and the fit between technical schedule and revenue, and coordinates the assignment. Read profile →
Xavier Watrelos
HV grid connection & industrial projects
Engineer, 20+ years of industrial projects, including HV and MV grid connections, commissioning and permit files. Read profile →
Anis Mokded
Design, commissioning & operations
Engineer, 20+ years in mission-critical sites: led a certified Tier IV data center, then ran campuses above 100 MW. Read profile →
Our difference
The truth is on the ground
Software spots signals. At GridReadiness, we verify them.
Maps, databases and announcements tell you where to look. They do not tell you whether a substation can really be used, whether works are progressing or whether a date will hold. Our experts go and see, and read the original documents.
- site and substation visits: equipment condition, nameplates, progress of works, posted permits
- reading the original documents: connection studies and proposals, agreements, manufacturer quotes
- the experience of people who have delivered grid connections, commissioning and construction
- a written opinion that separates what is verified from what remains to be confirmed
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What does data center technical due diligence cover for lenders?
For GridReadiness, it covers the three physical risks between financial close and energisation: the grid connection, the high-voltage equipment supply chain and the permitting and community risk.
When should a lender commission this review?
Before credit approval or investment committee, and ideally before signing. It can also support drawdown decisions during construction.
Do you replace the lenders' technical adviser?
No. We focus on grid, equipment and permitting risk, which are often covered only briefly in a standard technical review, and work alongside the adviser and legal counsel.
Which countries do you cover?
France in depth, and projects across Europe through our network of senior high-voltage engineers.