Modular Data Center Cost per MW (2026)

Modular data center modules sold for about US$4.4-4.6 million per MW of IT load in 2026 public contracts, before land, most site work and the utility connection. ^{[1]TechPartner News, "DXN awarded $8.8m contract with US neo-cloud operator" (June 3, 2026)https://www.techpartner.news/news/dxn-awarded-88m-contract-with-us-neo-cloud-operator-626392 [2]IT Brief Australia, "DXN wins AUD $12.2 million AI data centre contract" (August 26, 2026)https://itbrief.com.au/story/dxn-wins-aud-12-2-million-ai-data-centre-contract} All-in greenfield builds, new facilities on empty sites, ran $8.9-23.3 million per MW excluding GPUs, ^{[3]CRE Daily, "Data Center Construction Costs Jump 21% Since 2024," on the Cushman & Wakefield 2026 guide (August 27, 2026)https://www.credaily.com/briefs/data-center-construction-costs-jump-21-since-2024/} and $17.6 million on average for the most modern facilities. ^{[4]Cushman & Wakefield, "2026 Data Center Development Cost Guide" (2026)https://www.cushmanwakefield.com/en/united-states/insights/data-center-development-cost-guide}

The GPUs cost more than any of it: about $38-46 million per MW of B300 servers with their network. ^{[5]managedgpus.com, "B300 servers": ballpark server, networking and data center costs (October 2026)https://managedgpus.com/b300} IT load is the power the servers draw, so cooling and other overhead sit on top of every figure below.

What a modular data center costs per MW

Published per-MW prices run from about $4 million for a module to $23 million for a full greenfield build because they measure different scopes.

The two DXN contracts are the public 2026 modular AI contracts that disclose both price and capacity. Both are small, and the August contract reuses infrastructure the customer already had.

Cushman & Wakefield's 2026 figures run 21% higher per MW than its previous edition, published in late 2024. ^{[3]CRE Daily, "Data Center Construction Costs Jump 21% Since 2024," on the Cushman & Wakefield 2026 guide (August 27, 2026)https://www.credaily.com/briefs/data-center-construction-costs-jump-21-since-2024/}

Why module prices look cheap

A module price covers the box and what is inside it. A cost guide covers the whole site, from buying the land to the contingency budget.

Cushman & Wakefield broke its 2026 greenfield cost into shares. Applied to its $17.6 million average, the four lines it names add up to $10.7 million per MW. ^{[3]CRE Daily, "Data Center Construction Costs Jump 21% Since 2024," on the Cushman & Wakefield 2026 guide (August 27, 2026)https://www.credaily.com/briefs/data-center-construction-costs-jump-21-since-2024/} A module quote covers part of the first two and none of the last two.

DXN's announcements list integrated power, cooling, fire suppression and building management, plus security in August. ^{[1]TechPartner News, "DXN awarded $8.8m contract with US neo-cloud operator" (June 3, 2026)https://www.techpartner.news/news/dxn-awarded-88m-contract-with-us-neo-cloud-operator-626392 [2]IT Brief Australia, "DXN wins AUD $12.2 million AI data centre contract" (August 26, 2026)https://itbrief.com.au/story/dxn-wins-aud-12-2-million-ai-data-centre-contract} The guide does not break out the remaining 39% of cost.

Power reaches a module through a chain the module price does not pay for: utility substation -> pad-mounted transformer -> medium-voltage switchgear (the breakers that route and isolate power) -> the module's own distribution -> racks. On a site with power already in place, the first two hops may exist. The August DXN hall reuses infrastructure already on site.

For an operator, the utility connection decides whether a cheap module stays cheap. A site that needs a new substation pays for it in the power infrastructure line, whatever the module costs.

Is modular cheaper than stick-built

Not by much. Schneider Electric priced the same design both ways twice and found parity or a small saving.

In WP 218, factory-built gear cost more as materials, because the price includes the container and the factory integration. The savings came from less field labor and from replacing a building with an outdoor pad. With vacant space in an existing building, the authors found the cost analysis clearly favored the traditional build. ^{[7]Schneider Electric, White Paper 218, "Quantitative Analysis of a Prefabricated vs. Traditional Data Center" (2015)https://download.se.com/doc/SPD_VAVR-9U4PPA_EN/WP218R0.pdf}

Both papers come from a company that sells prefab modules, and both models are under 1 MW. WP 163's 13% covers the power and cooling plant alone.

Speed and smaller increments of capital are the case for modular. A buyer pays for a 2 MW hall when it needs 2 MW, instead of a 50 MW shell up front.

Where the cost increases are

Electrical gear rose fastest, and buying a module does not avoid it. Between December 2021 and early 2026, prices rose by these amounts: ^{[3]CRE Daily, "Data Center Construction Costs Jump 21% Since 2024," on the Cushman & Wakefield 2026 guide (August 27, 2026)https://www.credaily.com/briefs/data-center-construction-costs-jump-21-since-2024/}

The module itself is quick. DXN says its factory-built modules deploy about five to eight months after signing. ^{[2]IT Brief Australia, "DXN wins AUD $12.2 million AI data centre contract" (August 26, 2026)https://itbrief.com.au/story/dxn-wins-aud-12-2-million-ai-data-centre-contract} The transformer that feeds them can take more than a year to arrive. ^{[3]CRE Daily, "Data Center Construction Costs Jump 21% Since 2024," on the Cushman & Wakefield 2026 guide (August 27, 2026)https://www.credaily.com/briefs/data-center-construction-costs-jump-21-since-2024/}

For a buyer, the transformer and switchgear decide the energization date. For a lender, they decide when the first payment from the customer arrives.

What the GPUs cost per MW

One MW of IT load holds about 64 NVIDIA B300 servers of 8 GPUs each, and they cost $38-46 million with their network. NVIDIA rates the DGX B300 at 14.5 kW. ^{[9]NVIDIA, "Introduction to NVIDIA DGX B300 Systems," user guide (2025)https://docs.nvidia.com/dgx/dgxb300-user-guide/introduction-to-dgxb300.html} Adding each server's share of network gear brings it to about 15.5 kW, which is where the 64 comes from. The GB300 NVL72, NVIDIA's 72-GPU liquid-cooled rack, costs more per MW.

Prices are the ballpark ranges published on managedgpus.com in October 2026, before storage, shipping, sales tax and spares. ^{[5]managedgpus.com, "B300 servers": ballpark server, networking and data center costs (October 2026)https://managedgpus.com/b300} A 15% swing in B300 prices, about $6 million per MW, is larger than the whole module price.

Lenders size advances on the servers and the contract that rents them out, and most of a site's property limit is server value. Insuring modular data centers covers what the module adds.

Owning the site or renting colocation

At DXN's 2026 prices, an owned module costs well under colocation per kW before staff and upkeep. At the Cushman & Wakefield average, it costs about the same. The arithmetic below repays the facility over 10 years at 10%, like a mortgage, and prices power at $0.05 per kWh with a PUE of 1.2. PUE (power usage effectiveness) is total site power divided by IT power, so 1.2 means 20% overhead for cooling and losses.

The colocation figure is $4-5K a month per B300 server with power included, divided by 15.5 kW. The owner also pays for staff, maintenance, insurance and land rent, which the colocation rate already covers.

At US$4.4 million per MW, the facility is about a tenth of a B300 project. The case for owning is power the operator can reach and a schedule it controls.

What a used module is worth

A used module sells for what a buyer with power at its own site will pay. In November 2022, bankrupt Compute North sold 11 containers to Crusoe Energy Systems for about $1.55 million, about $141,000 each, and no other qualifying bid arrived. ^{[11]The Block, "Bankrupt Compute North selling $1.55 million in assets to Crusoe" (November 16, 2022)https://www.theblock.co/post/187900/bankrupt-compute-north-selling-1-55-million-in-assets-to-crusoe}

The buyer pays for a crane, trucking, permits, a new pad and a new power hookup on top. An air-cooled mining container also lacks the direct-to-chip liquid cooling an NVL72 rack needs.

Lenders size loans on the GPUs and the customer contract for that reason. How to finance a modular data center covers how the module is treated as collateral.

Questions to ask about a per-MW quote

1. Which MW? IT load, or total site power including cooling. At PUE 1.2, a price per MW of site power reads about 17% lower than the same price per MW of IT.
2. Who supplies the transformer and switchgear? If the buyer does, the transformer lead time sets the schedule.
3. What rack density and cooling? Four B300 servers at 14.5 kW need about 58 kW per rack. An NVL72 rack needs 130-140 kW and direct-to-chip liquid cooling.
4. What site work and contingency are included? Pad, trenching, fencing, water and fiber each need a named owner. Cushman & Wakefield carries 16% contingency in its greenfield average.
5. When does the price expire? Switchgear rose 60% in four years.

References

1. TechPartner News, "DXN awarded $8.8m contract with US neo-cloud operator" (June 3, 2026)
2. IT Brief Australia, "DXN wins AUD $12.2 million AI data centre contract" (August 26, 2026)
3. CRE Daily, "Data Center Construction Costs Jump 21% Since 2024," on the Cushman & Wakefield 2026 guide (August 27, 2026)
4. Cushman & Wakefield, "2026 Data Center Development Cost Guide" (2026)
5. managedgpus.com, "B300 servers": ballpark server, networking and data center costs (October 2026)
6. ValutaFX, Australian dollar to US dollar exchange rate on August 27, 2026 (0.7195)
7. Schneider Electric, White Paper 218, "Quantitative Analysis of a Prefabricated vs. Traditional Data Center" (2015)
8. Schneider Electric, White Paper 163 Rev 2, "Prefabricated Power and Cooling Modules for Data Centers" (2014)
9. NVIDIA, "Introduction to NVIDIA DGX B300 Systems," user guide (2025)
10. managedgpus.com, "GB300 NVL72": ballpark rack price and power (October 2026)
11. The Block, "Bankrupt Compute North selling $1.55 million in assets to Crusoe" (November 16, 2022)