Europe's data centers may drive digital sovereignty

In recent years, Europe has become a focal point for discussions surrounding digital sovereignty and data center expansion. While concerns about artificial intelligence's potential dangers have sparked global debates, local conversations are also taking place about the optimal locations for data centers. This issue is particularly pressing in Europe, where many governments and companies prioritize storing data within the continent to avoid reliance on the United States, the leading global computing hub.

However, increasing digital sovereignty in Europe comes with a price: higher consumption of the continent's resources. According to the German Ministry for Economic Affairs, an average data center consumes between 0.4 and 4.4 liters of water per kilowatt-hour of electricity to maintain optimal cooling. As Europe has experienced its hottest summer on record in recent years, with water restrictions imposed in some areas, worries about data center water usage in the future have grown.

In addition to water consumption, electricity demand is another significant concern. Finland's national grid operator, Fingrid, predicts a nearly 40% rise in electricity consumption if all signed connection agreements for data centers are fulfilled. The European Commission recently introduced a new scheme to improve transparency on energy and water usage for data centers with capacities exceeding 500 kW.

These facilities will now receive an efficiency grade, considering their contribution to the grid, such as waste heat reuse.

As data centers expand, they are increasingly built in rural areas and cities like Groningen in the Netherlands, Barcelona in Spain, Brussels in Belgium, and Marseille in France. Despite these developments, protests have emerged in response to planned data centers. For instance, hundreds protested outside Google's offices in Austria over its proposed data center in Kronstorf, while in France, local elected officials resigned due to opposition to Google's massive data center project.

Efforts to make data centers more energy-efficient are underway. Some operators, such as a Marseille-based facility, plan to use cooling systems consuming 30% less power and requiring no water. In Scandinavia, waste heat from servers is redirected into district heating networks. A recent German survey found that 75% of people would support data centers closer to residential areas if they contributed to the heating network.

Proponents of European data centers argue that these facilities can bolster digital sovereignty and energy independence for the continent.