Nis Data Center Deal Worth 50 Million Euros

The Nis city council will decide next week on transferring 37,400 square meters, or 3.74 hectares, of land from the city to the Republic of Serbia. It is the last administrative step before construction begins on a data center valued at around 50 million euros, with the state footing the bill. The city of Nis is handing over the land free of charge, and council members will make the final call on the transfer at their next session.

The details came from Ivan Blagojevic, a member of the Nis city council. He said the plot sits within the Tehnis complex, on the site of a current army barracks in the Niska Banja municipality. The land is undeveloped, so no existing buildings need to be demolished or relocated before work starts. The future center’s maximum capacity would be 20 megawatts.

Why the Tehnis Site

Talks are underway with the Ministry of Defense to change the land’s designation, since it is currently classified as military property. The city also needs a new general urban plan that accounts for the parcel’s new purpose, since that has not yet been written into the existing plan. Blagojevic said the data center would rank among the largest technology investments Nis has seen in years.

“By deciding to build a data center in Nis, the state has invested close to 50 million euros in the city. Once the center is finished and running, we can expect a broader IT footprint for the city and a stronger position for Nis on the map of southeastern Serbia, and even this part of Europe,” Blagojevic said.

The facility’s purpose will not be limited to data storage. According to the announcements, it would also handle data processing, artificial intelligence development, and the needs of companies that require large computing capacity. City officials expect the project to draw new companies to Nis, create jobs, and open up opportunities for young, highly educated residents.

Heat That Could Warm 8,000 Homes

The part of the story that touches residents directly is the waste heat the center would generate while running. Based on European experience with similar facilities, a 20-megawatt capacity could provide heating for between 5,000 and 8,000 apartments in Nis.

“That capacity could eventually make it possible to heat between 5,000 and 8,000 apartments in Nis,” Blagojevic said.

Initial talks are already underway to link the heat generated by the data center to a new heating substation and feed it into the district heating system. The final number of connected apartments will depend on the technical solution chosen, the infrastructure that needs to be built, and the pace of connecting to the existing network.

Blagojevic said the whole plan is still at an early stage. Neither the number of apartments nor a firm connection date has been set, since both depend on decisions still to come, including the resolution of the land issue now before the city council.

According to city officials, construction could begin in late 2026 or early 2027, once the outstanding questions over the land and urban planning documents are resolved. Until then, talks with the Ministry of Defense continue alongside work on the new general urban plan, the two conditions that must be met before anything can be built on the Niska Banja site.

For now, the only formal obstacle being resolved in public is the land transfer on the city council’s agenda. Everything else, from the construction timeline to the number of households eventually connected to district heating, stays open until the agreements with the Ministry of Defense are finalized and the new urban plan is adopted.