Data Centers in Rouen

Rouen – A Strategic Hub for Northern France

Rouen provides a compelling colocation option for businesses requiring a strategic foothold in Northern France, offering reliable infrastructure without the higher costs of Paris. It is an excellent market for disaster recovery, content delivery, and serving the Normandy region, ensuring low-latency performance and high uptime for critical applications.

Rouen: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Rouen's connectivity is reliable and well-suited for regional workloads, leveraging its proximity to Paris, France's primary interconnection hub.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: The market features 2 providers operating 6 data centers, as of September 2025. While not as dense as Paris, these facilities offer access to key national and regional carriers, with an emphasis on carrier-neutral access in modern facilities.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: There are no direct public cloud on-ramps within Rouen, as of September 2025. Businesses connect to all major cloud providers, including AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, via dedicated private network connections to facilities in Paris.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): Public peering is not established within Rouen itself. The majority of network peering is handled privately or routed through the major Internet Exchange Points located in Paris, ensuring efficient traffic exchange.

Bare Metal: Bare metal server options are available in the Rouen market. Providers like OVHcloud offer dedicated server infrastructure for workloads requiring direct hardware access and maximum performance.

Power Analysis

France's power infrastructure is known for its stability and high percentage of carbon-free energy, which benefits data center operators in Rouen.

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial electricity is estimated between €0.18 and €0.23 per kWh, as of September 2025. This cost structure, supported by a grid dominated by nuclear power (~68%), provides predictable and stable operational expenses for high-density deployments.

Power Grid Reliability: The power grid supporting the Rouen area is robust and reliable, benefiting from France's well-engineered national transmission system. Data centers in the region are typically supported by redundant power feeds to ensure consistent uptime.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Rouen offers a strategic location that balances cost-effectiveness with excellent market access to key economic zones.

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers in Rouen are positioned to serve the city's port, industrial zones, and the wider Seine Valley business corridor. This proximity provides low-latency connectivity for logistics, manufacturing, and regional enterprise.

Regional Market Reach: The market effectively serves the entire Normandy region and acts as a secondary hub for workloads targeting the Greater Paris area. Its location makes it ideal for disaster recovery sites for businesses with a primary presence in Paris.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: France offers specific financial incentives for large-scale digital infrastructure projects. The European Investment Bank (EIB) has provided loan financing for data center developments, which can significantly lower the capital costs for major investments in the region.

Natural Disaster Risk

Rouen has a low natural disaster risk profile, with an overall INFORM Risk score of 2.7 out of 10, as of September 2025. This minimizes the threat of environmental disruptions to data center operations.

The primary environmental hazards to consider are flood-related, though the risk remains manageable. Key risks include:

• River Flood: 7.5/10
• Coastal Flood: 7.4/10
• Earthquake: 2.8/10
• Tsunami: 2.5/10

Risks from tropical cyclones and drought are negligible. The city's infrastructure and coping capacity are rated as strong, further mitigating potential impacts.