Data centers, mirrors of the tensions in the digital world

Long regarded as technical or real estate assets, data centers now occupy a central place in the digital economy. Cloud computing, artificial intelligence, streaming, online services, video games, cybersecurity and connected devices all rely on infrastructure capable of storing, processing and securing ever-growing volumes of data.

This rise in importance is profoundly changing the nature of the challenges involved. Data centers are becoming strategic infrastructure, at the crossroads of energy, industrial, environmental and digital sovereignty policies.

According to international projections, data centers’ electricity consumption could rise rapidly by 2030. This trend is being driven in particular by the growth of AI, whose requirements in terms of computing power, cooling and continuous availability are increasing pressure on power grids.

Data centers have a distinctive energy profile. They operate continuously, with high and predictable power requirements, making them major structural consumers for electricity grids.

The most recent facilities, particularly AI-dedicated hyperscale data centers, can reach power levels comparable to the consumption of entire cities. This development is forcing operators, energy companies and public authorities to rethink grid connection conditions, planning processes and the security of supply.

In several countries, grid connection timelines are becoming a key factor. They can slow down, or even call into question, certain projects. Faced with this constraint, major digital players are seeking to secure grid capacity earlier, enter into long-term power supply contracts and, in some cases, locate closer to energy generation assets.

The recent energy context (2021–2023) has highlighted the vulnerability of large electricity consumers to price volatility and supply tensions.

Long-term power purchase agreements, particularly PPAs, are becoming increasingly common in order to secure large volumes of low-carbon energy at stable prices. Some players are also showing interest in nuclear power, small modular reactors, hydrogen, and hybrid solutions combining renewables with dispatchable generation assets.

This shift reflects the gradual move of major digital players further up the energy value chain, as they seek to secure access to abundant, decarbonized, competitive energy available in the right locations.

Data centers use significant volumes of water to cool their facilities, in addition to indirect water use linked to equipment manufacturing and energy production.

In areas already affected by water stress, this consumption can compete with other essential uses, such as agriculture, industry and public water supply. Several projects have already been delayed, challenged or suspended because of their potential impact on local water resources.

The deployment of data centers represents a major economic challenge for local territories. However, their acceptability is becoming increasingly complex: local authorities and citizens are raising more and more questions about the use of local resources and the impact on infrastructure networks.

At the same time, digital sovereignty is strengthening the strategic importance of data centers. The location, processing, and protection of data are becoming priorities for both governments and businesses.

Data centers are now at the heart of a collective trade-off: determining the place our societies want to give to digital technology in a context of increasingly constrained resources.