CapEx Explained · Updated September 30, 2026

Data Center CapEx in 2026: What It Includes, How It Splits and How to Model It

September 30, 2026 7 min read Strategic Crypto Reserve Data Center Costs
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Capital expenditure is the money spent to bring a data center into service. For a 100 MW AI factory in Texas, the AI Build Configurator puts total CapEx at US$5.28B, and 56% of it is GPUs. Here is what counts as CapEx, how it splits and how it compares with operating cost.

Data Center CapEx

What Data Center CapEx Includes

Data center CapEx covers every one-time cost to deliver an operating facility:

Facility
Shell and core, mechanical and electrical fit-out, cooling plant, network and fibre.
Site
Land and the utility's contribution-in-aid for substations and connection.
Soft costs
Design, engineering, permitting and project management (9% of hard cost in the configurator).
IT hardware
Accelerators and servers, if the owner buys them.
Tax
Sales or use tax on equipment in states without an exemption.

Energy, maintenance, staffing, property tax and insurance are operating costs (OpEx), not CapEx. See the full yearly picture on our data center TCO calculator.

Five buckets: facility, site, soft, IT hardware, tax Running costs are OpEx: energy, maintenance, staff, tax, insurance

How CapEx Splits on a 100 MW AI Build

Total CapEx, Texas: including B200-class GPUs CapEx without GPUs: US$23.3M per MW of IT load California adds: sales tax on a 100 MW AI factory
100 MW hyperscale AI factory in Texas, direct-to-chip liquid cooling, B200-class GPUs. SCR AI Build Configurator v1.3.2.
CapEx lineAmountShare
GPUs (B200-class)US$2.94B56%
Shell and coreUS$1.47B28%
Fit-outUS$331.9M6%
CoolingUS$229.8M4%
NetworkUS$47.9M1%
LandUS$21.3M0%
Utility contributionUS$42.6M1%
Soft costsUS$192.7M4%
Total CapExUS$5.28B100%

When the owner buys the accelerators, GPUs are the majority of CapEx and the building becomes the smaller decision. Without GPUs, the same site's CapEx is US$2.33B, or US$23.3M per MW.

CapEx vs OpEx Over the Life of the Site

CapEx is paid once; OpEx every year. For a 50 MW powered shell in Texas, CapEx is US$559.7M and power alone is US$31.4M a year, so after a ten-year contract the energy bill is more than half the original CapEx. That is why location (power price) matters as much as construction cost.

Model both together in the free live demo: it shows CapEx by line, annual OpEx, EBITDA and simple payback for any build type and location.

Power vs build cost: ten years of power, 50 MW in Texas CapEx, OpEx and payback: in the SCR AI Build Configurator

Frequently Asked Questions

What is data center CapEx?

The one-time capital spent to bring a data center into service: shell, fit-out, cooling, network, land, utility contribution, soft costs, sales tax and, if the owner buys them, the GPUs and servers.

How much CapEx does a 100 MW AI data center need?

About US$5.28B in Texas including B200-class GPUs, or US$2.33B for the facility alone, on the SCR AI Build Configurator dataset.

What share of AI data center CapEx is GPUs?

About 56% for a 100 MW AI factory in Texas when the owner buys B200-class accelerators.

Is electricity CapEx or OpEx?

OpEx. Electricity is a running cost paid every year; only the utility contribution to connect the site is CapEx.

How do I calculate data center CapEx?

Use the data center capital cost calculator on this site for a quick line-item estimate, or the SCR AI Build Configurator for the full model including OpEx and payback.