Russia is making plans to deploy AI data centers in Belarus and Kazakhstan in part due to shortages in energy capacity.

As reported by Russian news organization RBC, consultations are currently taking place within the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media. RBC cited sources within Russia’s IT industry.

Multiple locations are currently being considered, but no decisions have been made yet.

Recent years have seen shrinking capacity in key Russian regions. For example, capacity in Moscow was reported at 22.6GW, with a reserve of around 12 percent.

The Moscow Times has previously reported that new data centers in Moscow cannot be connected to the power grid due to capacity shortages.

Authorities in Moscow have discussed plans to increase the region’s strategic reserve of energy capacity from 12 percent to 15 percent.

Meanwhile, multiple power outages have occurred in the region this year, as demand has grown faster than expected, though there is some speculation that knock-on effects from the Ukraine war have had an impact.

Earlier this year, Russia announced the development of two new data centers in St. Petersburg, Russia.

But overall, data center developments in Russia have slowed, with nearly a third of announced projects stalling. This is largely due to the high cost of capital, rising construction and utility costs, and difficulty connecting to power grids.