AI data centers spark protests in Europe — Deutsche Welle
The construction of large data centers for training and operating artificial intelligence systems is sparking protests in European countries. Residents and local officials are voicing concerns over electricity and water consumption, while facility operators speak of their importance for Europe’s digital sovereignty. This was reported by Deutsche Welle English.
According to Germany’s Ministry for Economic Affairs, an average of 0.4 to 4.4 liters of water is used to cool data centers for every kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed. The water either evaporates or returns to reservoirs already warmed. Concerns over such consumption are growing amid Europe’s record-hot summer, when some areas restricted water use by residents, agriculture and nuclear power plants.
Pressure on power grids
The European Commission has announced a new scheme to increase transparency regarding data centers’ energy and water consumption. Facilities with a capacity of more than 500 kilowatts will receive an efficiency rating that will also take into account their contribution to grid operations, including the reuse of excess heat.
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Finland’s national electricity grid operator Fingrid predicts that electricity consumption could rise by nearly 40% if all projects with signed connection agreements are fully implemented. Europe’s largest data centers have traditionally been concentrated near Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin, but due to power grid constraints, new facilities are also being built in Groningen, Barcelona, Brussels and rural areas.
Protests in Austria, Ireland and France
In Linz, hundreds of people protested outside Google’s office against the company’s plans to build a data center in the town of Kronstorf. In Ireland, writer Sally Rooney led a campaign that secured the cancellation of a permit to build a data center in the village of Killala. In the French town of Étreshy, several elected officials resigned over Google’s plans to build a large data center that at full capacity would require between 880 megawatts and 1.1 gigawatts of electricity.
Data center operators argue that such facilities can be designed with lower energy consumption. According to reports, a data center under construction in Marseille will use a cooling system that requires 30% less electricity and consumes no water. In Scandinavia, some data centers supply excess heat from servers to district heating systems.
