Amazon is redistributing parts of its e-commerce infrastructure across a wider range of AWS regions amid reported constraints on power and data centre capacity.
The multiyear programme, known internally as “Region Flex”, is intended to reduce Amazon’s reliance on several large AWS regions and spread workloads across more locations, according to internal planning documents obtained by Business Insider.
The documents cite power and capacity constraints as factors in the programme. One plan referred to moving infrastructure away from AWS’s Dublin region because of expansion risks linked to power availability, while another said Amazon needed additional regional capacity to meet projected requirements.
Amazon confirmed the existence of Region Flex to Business Insider but said some timelines and other details contained in the documents were inaccurate or no longer reflected its plans. The company said it has changed its infrastructure over time to improve reliability, control costs, and place services closer to customers.
The reported plans include moving some workloads from Dublin to AWS regions including Frankfurt and Zaragoza, Spain. Business Insider also reported that Amazon had considered reducing the infrastructure footprint of its e-commerce operations in Dublin and other established AWS locations.
Regional moves bring added costs
Region Flex involves moving workloads between separate AWS geographic regions, rather than only distributing them across Availability Zones within a single region. AWS regions contain multiple Availability Zones made up of separate data centres and infrastructure.
AWS currently operates 123 Availability Zones across 39 geographic regions and has announced plans for another seven Availability Zones and two regions.
AWS says resource prices can differ between regions because of factors including land, fibre, electricity, and taxation. Its guidance also tells customers to consider latency, data residency, cost, performance requirements, and service availability when deciding where workloads should run.
Moving workloads between regions can also introduce data-transfer charges. AWS charges for some traffic sent between regions, with rates depending on the source and destination, and advises customers to account for those costs when evaluating regional architectures.
Business Insider reported that some Amazon services moved from Dublin to Frankfurt and Zaragoza were expected to incur higher infrastructure costs because distributing workloads reduced hosting efficiency.
Running workloads across multiple regions can also require additional infrastructure, monitoring, and operational work. AWS guidance says organisations need to manage dependencies and failover between regions, adding operational requirements beyond running workloads in a single location.
AWS is continuing to add infrastructure while operating under capacity constraints. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said during the company’s second-quarter earnings reporting in July that AWS expects to continue adding capacity.
Amazon raised its planned 2026 capital expenditure from $200 billion to $220 billion in July. Jassy said higher memory costs were a primary factor behind the increase, while the majority of Amazon’s capital spending is allocated to AI and data centre infrastructure.
Amazon had already been expanding the power available to AWS before the latest spending increase. The company said in October 2025 that it had added more than 3.8 gigawatts of power capacity during the previous 12 months.
During Amazon’s July 30 earnings call, Jassy said AWS remained on course to double its power capacity by the end of 2027 compared with 2025 levels. Amazon has also said that spending on AWS infrastructure covers land, power, buildings, chips, servers, and networking equipment before that capacity can be used by customers.
Ireland tightens data centre power rules
Data centres consumed 7,663 GWh of electricity in Ireland in 2025, according to the country’s Central Statistics Office, up 10% from 6,973 GWh a year earlier.
Data centres accounted for 23% of Ireland’s metered electricity consumption in 2025, compared with 5% in 2015. Electricity consumption among all other metered users increased by 2% between 2024 and 2025, according to the CSO.
Ireland introduced tighter conditions for new data centre connections to the electricity network in December 2025. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities said the policy takes account of grid constraints, network capacity, security of electricity supply, and generation adequacy.
Under the policy, new data centres seeking connections must provide generation or storage capacity capable of matching their requested maximum electricity import. They must also meet at least 80% of their annual electricity demand through additional renewable electricity projects located in Ireland, with a six-year period allowed for those projects to become operational.
The regulator expects data centre electricity consumption to rise further based on already contracted demand. EirGrid projections cited by the CRU put consumption at 9.4 TWh in 2025 and 14.6 TWh in 2034, with data centres accounting for an estimated 31% of national electricity demand by the end of that period.
AWS advises customers to consider compliance requirements, latency, cost, and service availability when selecting a region. Business Insider reported that power and infrastructure availability are also influencing where Amazon places some workloads under Region Flex.
Region Flex is distributing parts of Amazon’s e-commerce infrastructure across a broader set of AWS regions while the company continues to add data centre and power capacity.
(Photo by Winston Chen)
See also: Amazon expands Anthropic partnership with $25 billion investment
Want to learn more about Cloud Computing from industry leaders? Check out Cyber Security & Cloud Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is part of TechEx and is co-located with other leading technology events, click here for more information.
Cloud Computing News is powered by TechForge Media. Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars here.
