Nebius pencils in 50 MW at a Saudi data center still being built
Nebius would take up to 50 MW of the first 100 MW at DataVolt's Oxagon campus in NEOM from Q4 2027, as its auction prices per megawatt keep rising. A framework, not a lease.
WIRE · NEOCLOUDS · SAUDI ARABIA · Data as at 22 Oct 2026
Nebius has signed a preliminary framework to take up to 50 MW of AI data center capacity at Oxagon, the industrial zone of NEOM on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast, HUMAIN and DataVolt announced on 21 October 2026. The 50 MW is half of the first 100 MW now under construction, part of a planned 360 MW first phase, and is due to switch on in phases from Q4 2027. Nebius would be the campus's first named customer, just six weeks after ground was broken. On the neoclouds layer the signal is that Nebius is now booking power years ahead, wherever a landlord can promise it. The catch: this is a framework, not a lease, on a building that does not exist yet.
What happened
21 October 2026 · HUMAIN, DataVolt and NEOM
Up to 50 MW at Oxagon for Nebius, in phases from Q4 2027
Signed on the sidelines of NVIDIA's GTC conference in Berlin. Nebius would be the anchor customer and is expected to install its own NVIDIA computing in the halls. The release calls it a "preliminary framework agreement" and the capacity a "contemplated offtake"
31 August 2026 · DataVolt and HUMAIN
Construction starts on a 1.5 GW campus, first 100 MW "anticipated" in 2028
HUMAIN, owned by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, and developer DataVolt are jointly building the first 100 MW. NEOM leases the land to DataVolt, and the site is meant to run on NEOM's wind and solar. No cost was given for the 100 MW or a date for the other 260 MW
21 October 2026 · Nebius at GTC Berlin, and CNBC
Spot GPU prices go public, and the auction price per megawatt keeps rising
Nebius opened its live spot prices to anyone, with no account needed. Chief revenue officer Marc Boroditsky told CNBC that Tuesday's capacity auction showed "continued upward mobility" in price per megawatt and that Nebius would sell out its 2027 capacity if it brought it online
Why cash cares
Fifty megawatts is small next to Nebius's own target. In its 12 August shareholder letter Nebius said it expects to end 2026 with 5 GW of contracted power, so Oxagon adds about 1% on our arithmetic. Size is not the point. Where the power comes from is.
Price per megawatt is the number that matters. Nebius said its four large second-quarter deals earned $20 million to $25 million of contract value for every megawatt, and that it saw room for $40 million to $50 million a megawatt on newer, shorter deals. If Oxagon's 50 MW were sold at the second-quarter rate, that is about $1.0 billion to $1.25 billion of contracts, on our arithmetic. Nothing about Oxagon's price has been disclosed.
The timing is also worth a second look. In August the partners said the first 100 MW was "anticipated" in 2028. The Nebius framework now says its share starts coming online in phases from Q4 2027. That is either a faster build or an earlier first slice, and the release does not say which.
Figure: how much of Oxagon Nebius would take, and what it could be worth. Capacity figures from HUMAIN, DataVolt and NEOM. Yield range from Nebius's Q2 2026 shareholder letter. The contract value and the 1% share are our arithmetic.
The second-order read
Who gets paid. DataVolt and HUMAIN first, as landlords: a named international tenant makes the first 100 MW easier to finance before it is finished. Then NVIDIA, since Nebius expects to fill the halls with NVIDIA systems that have to be bought before any customer pays. Then whoever supplies power to the site.
Who carries the risk. Nebius, if this turns into a lease. Under the colocation model in its August letter, Nebius buys and runs the hardware while the landlord supplies the land, building and power. That means Nebius funds the GPUs for 50 MW on a campus it does not control, in a market it has not served before.
Who waits. Nebius's customers. Boroditsky's point is that every megawatt Nebius can switch on in 2027 is already spoken for. Oxagon does not help 2027 much: the first phases start in its last quarter.
Stuck step. Power at the hall, then a binding contract. The campus is meant to run on NEOM's wind and solar, and none of the 100 MW is energised yet. Until the framework becomes a signed lease with a price, Oxagon is a reservation, not revenue.
Two cautions
This is a preliminary framework. The release says the offtake is "up to" 50 MW and "contemplated", and gives no price, term or penalty for delay.
The contract value range assumes Oxagon is priced like Nebius's second-quarter deals. That could be too low if the auction prices Boroditsky described hold, or too high if a new market needs a discount.
What to watch
- A signed lease. Whether Nebius turns the framework into a binding contract, and whether it names the price, term and MW in its next quarterly letter.
- Power at Oxagon. Which supplier, how much of it is firm power rather than wind and solar, and when the first hall is energised.
- Q4 2027. Whether the first phase arrives on the new date or slips back to the 2028 date given in August.
Read: What does Nebius do?, What is TCV?, How data center financing works and Nebius moves spare GPU hours to spot pricing
Get the Wire. A free brief every day, here and in your inbox. Subscribe free →
Not investment advice. Do your own research. The 1% share and the $1.0 billion to $1.25 billion contract value are our arithmetic.
References
- NEOM, "HUMAIN and DataVolt advance AI infrastructure framework with Nebius for planned giga campus in NEOM's Oxagon", 21 Oct 2026. Up to 50 MW, 100 MW and 360 MW, Q4 2027.
- DataVolt, "HUMAIN Partners with DataVolt to Jointly Develop 100MW of a 360MW AI Data Center Project in NEOM", 31 Aug 2026. Construction start, 1.5 GW campus, 2028 date.
- DCD, "Humain breaks ground on Neom's Oxagon data center", 7 Sep 2026. Land lease and wind and solar power.
- CNBC, "Investors are questioning neoclouds' business model but Nebius says AI computing prices are rising", 21 Oct 2026. Auction prices, 2027 capacity.
- Nebius, "Nebius brings compute pricing into the open as Europe's AI builders scale on its cloud", 21 Oct 2026. Public spot prices.
- Nebius Group, Letter to shareholders Q2 2026, 12 Aug 2026. 5 GW target, $20M to $25M per MW, colocation model.
