A former sugar factory near Caen could become the latest industrial site in France to be turned into an AI data centre.

The 33-hectare Saint Louis sugar factory in Cagny, a small town east of Caen in the Calvados Department of France, is set to be acquired by real estate developer Brown Fields, according to  local media reports.

– Dietmar Rabich/Wikimedia Commons

Brown Fields specialises in taking derelict sites and redeveloping them in a way that has a positive impact on the natural environment. On this occasion, it reportedly plans to knock down the sugar factory and build an AI data centre.

Negotiations between Brown Fields and Saint Louis Sucre, which still owns the land, are ongoing. The two companies have worked together before, with Brown Fields converting part of a Saint-Louis Sucre factory in Marseille into a film studio.

The Cagny factory closed in 2020, having been operational since 1950. The site would likely cost €15-€20 million ($17.8-$23.8m) and already has a 220,000 volt power line running nearby, as well as a direct connection to the Flamanville nuclear power station. A wastewater treatment plant is also present at the site, but is currently out of service.

France is in the midst of major AI data centre build-out as it looks to increase its national compute capacity. The government last year identified 35 “turn key” sites where large-scale AI data centres could be constructed, but the Cagny site is not part of this list.

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