How Kazakhstan’s Akashi Data Center is building trust

Demand for data center services is growing rapidly, driven by large-scale digitalization and advances in AI technologies.

However, the development of new facilities in the United States, which firmly holds the world’s leading position in both the number of data centers and computing capacity, as well as in the FLAP-D markets (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin), which account for the majority of Europe’s data center capacity, is being constrained by a shortage of available power capacity.

Some projects are even facing calls for cancellation due to protests from local residents concerned about rising electricity tariffs and potential environmental risks.

Against this backdrop, hyperscalers, cloud providers, and developers are seeking regions with access to available electricity. In the European market, their attention is gradually shifting towards locations that until recently were considered secondary within the industry: Brussels in Belgium, Groningen in the Netherlands, Barcelona in Spain, as well as Norway and Finland, major producers of green energy.

This trend extends beyond the relocation of new projects further into Europe. Power capacity shortages in developed countries are creating opportunities for emerging economies that also want to benefit from the global AI boom. Central Asian countries, with their abundant energy resources, are launching national strategies aimed at developing digital infrastructure and exporting computing capacity.

Kazakhstan, the region’s largest economy, is the clear leader in this regard. Over the past few years, several strategic policy documents have been adopted, defining the country’s national approach to the sector. However, for the main customers of data centers – hyperscalers and cloud providers – the operational reliability of a particular facility is far more important than any policy declarations.

Kazakhstan-based AKASHI Data Center PLC, which is developing a 100MW data center in the country’s capital, Astana, has sought to address three key questions concerning operational reliability through three independent institutions: whether uninterrupted operations can be ensured in the event of grid failures, whether the project is protected against the risk of remaining unfinished, and which legal jurisdiction will govern potential disputes.

Reliability audit

The primary requirement customers place on a data center is independent verification of the facility’s technical reliability. Even in developed economies with strong institutions, let alone emerging markets, data center customers sometimes encounter falsified certificates purporting to demonstrate that a technical audit has been completed.

More commonly, data center operators claim that their facilities meet a high reliability tier without obtaining official certification.

Following a successful preliminary audit of its engineering design, AKASHI Data Center PLC positioned its facility under construction as Central Asia’s first Tier IV data center under the Uptime Institute classification.

In March 2026, the organization awarded the project its Tier IV Certification of Design Documents (TCDD), confirming that the design meets the highest level of reliability under its classification system.

Two independent 110kV power feeds operating in an active/active configuration, an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system with 5/4N redundancy, and generators capable of providing 12 hours of autonomous operation at full load are designed to ensure that a localized failure in the power supply or cooling system does not result in server downtime.

In practice, developers often use design certification primarily as a marketing tool to attract anchor customers, subsequently declining to undertake the costly audit of the completed facility.

The first phase of the Akashi data center is scheduled to become operational in 2027, when the facility is also expected to undergo its on-site audit for Tier IV Certification of Constructed Facility (TCCF).

Financial resilience

While announced projects in developed countries are sometimes cancelled following protests from local residents concerned about rising electricity tariffs and increased water consumption, a key risk to the delivery of major infrastructure projects in emerging markets remains a straightforward lack of financing.

In June 2026, the Eurasian Development Bank (EDB) approved $90 million in financing for the first phase of the data center. Total investment in the entire project is estimated at $230 million.

“Demand for data storage and processing capacity in the countries of the region is growing rapidly alongside the development of cloud services, digital platforms, and artificial intelligence-based solutions,” said Sergey Ignatov, senior managing director and head of the project division at the EDB.

The involvement of an international development institution provides evidence of the project’s investment attractiveness, as its financial and business models have successfully undergone the bank’s due diligence process.

English law in Central Asia

Western companies do not always have confidence in the judicial systems of emerging economies. For this reason, the founders of AKASHI Data Center PLC registered the company at the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC).

This provides access to a special legal regime and the possibility of operating under the laws of another jurisdiction, for example, by entering into contracts governed by the laws of a client’s jurisdiction.

The protection of commercial contracts is supported by the AIFC’s jurisdiction, which operates under a separate legal framework based on the principles and rules of English common law.

The presence of the independent AIFC Court and the International Arbitration Centre (IAC), involving distinguished British judges, enables investors to structure service level agreements (SLAs) and master service agreements (MSAs) using familiar international legal frameworks.

The three pillars of trust

“Declarations alone cannot build trust among international customers in a new facility in Central Asia. We want to earn our customers’ trust long before the first server is installed – through technical audits, institutional financing, and a transparent legal jurisdiction,” said Vladislav Minevich, CEO of AKASHI Data Center PLC.

In his view, the combination of these factors makes the Central Asian project more understandable and accessible to international customers.

Discover the Akashi Data Center and its vision for digital infrastructure in Central Asia at https://akashi.cloud