German city of Groß-Gerau denies data centre construction citing concerns over rising power costs, diminished water and environmental resources, ugly aesthetics, and skepticism over job creation
lessons for the globe - why not insist on Behind the meter power sources that supply the grid???
The concerns should serve as warnings for all those around the world rushing towards jumping o he Ai/data centre mania.
Looking a the numbers for power consumption it seems to me these data canters need to not only supply their own power but should also build ‘redundant power generation capacity to supply cheap energy to national grids – thus helping with a problem – and providing back-up power rather than causing a power problem of draining I ad increasing power prices.
From here (h/t Zero Hedge)
“Major U.S. investors were behind the push to build the 174-megawatt data center, but local residents and politicians have successfully stopped construction of the five-building complex, which represented €2.5 billion in investment.”
174 MW!!! Enough to power around 150,000 homes. The neighbouring is close to internet hub, Fankfurt - Groß-Gerau itself has 20,000 people. Why wouldn’t you construct facilities that would provide FREE electricity to residents, rather than a facility that provides none and raises prices!
“Behind-the-meter (BTM) data centers are colocated with on-site power generation—such as natural gas turbines, renewable energy, or nuclear plants—and draw power directly from that source before relying on the grid as a backup. This setup helps avoid lengthy grid interconnection queues, reduces exposure to grid-related costs, and accelerates time-to-market. The OpenAI Stargate initiative, Talen Energy’s Cumulus project (connected to the Susquehanna nuclear plant), and Fermi America’s Project Matador are key examples of large-scale BTM deployments.”
“In-front-of-the-meter (FTM) data centers rely on traditional grid connections, where power is purchased from utilities. While this remains the dominant model, it faces significant challenges: grid congestion, interconnection delays of 5–8 years, and rising electricity prices.”
“Hybrid models combine BTM generation with grid interconnection, allowing surplus onsite power to be exported and providing flexibility. This approach balances reliability, cost, and sustainability, particularly when paired with battery storage or carbon capture.”
For the Burgermeisters of Groß-Gerau we have this from the Remix article:
“The town resisted for a variety of reasons, including aesthetics, a lack of jobs, and the sheer scale of the project. Mayor Jörg Rüddenklau (SPD) also did not believe the promised benefits would materialize, doubting the facility would generate significant new jobs or trade tax revenue.
In response to these growing concerns, the German government has introduced some of the world’s strictest regulations to appease locals.
By 2028, new data centers must reuse at least 20 percent of their waste heat, and projects that cannot prove this are being rejected. Starting in 2027, all German data centers must also cover their consumption entirely with renewable energy. This is making it harder for investors to find viable sites, as they now need to be located near major wind or solar sites.
And raises he issue of reliability of energy and the need for gas and nuclear.
“Meanwhile, massive data center projects are advancing in other areas of Germany. A massive 300 MW “Mega Campus” is moving forward to serve the Brandenburg Wustermark region outside Berlin, but it has faced intense scrutiny over its impact on the local water table.
“Beyond Groß-Gerau, towns like Hanau are seeing organized “neighbor resistance.” Residents are citing a 2025 study showing that some data centers consume as much water as small cities during summer heatwaves to keep servers cool.”
“Germany’s Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG), which became strictly binding for many operators in 2025, has only exacerbated the problem. Grid connection requests have skyrocketed near many major cities. In Berlin alone, data center requests have reached nearly 3 GW, far exceeding what the city’s current infrastructure can handle.
“Data centers are driving up the price of electricity for households and starving other sectors of power.”
A similar conflict is also running in the German town of Maintal, where the U.S. firm “Edgeconnex” is pursuing a 170-megawatt data center.
170 MW!!
Here’s the output from a few Geman wind farm projects – which only work at these levels for one third of the time.
“For offshore projects, large-scale developments like the upcoming Lighthouse Offshore-to-X Wind Farm (2 GW) are expected to produce around 7,500 GWh annually, while Nordlicht 1 will deliver 980 MW (1,020 MW output).
“For offshore projects, large-scale developments like the upcoming Lighthouse Offshore-to-X Wind Farm (2 GW) are expected to produce around 7,500 GWh annually, while Nordlicht 1 will deliver 980 MW (1,020 MW output).
Critics say these projects are necessary for Germany’s “digital future,” but with AI data centers not only generating very few jobs, but also threatening to wipe out jobs for millions in the future, some local residents are having trouble understanding what they are getting out of these deals besides high energy prices, diminished water supplies, and ugly eyesores on the landscape.
He’res German plans for data centers from Brave AI:
“Germany has a significant number of data centers planned, with 41 upcoming data center facilities reported in the Germany data center market portfolio (as of 2025). These upcoming facilities are expected to add over 2,845 MW of IT power capacity by 2029, representing an 86% increase over the existing 1.47 GW.
Key markets driving this expansion include:
Frankfurt am Main, the second-largest data center hub in Europe, with 542 MW under construction and 383 MW in planning.
Berlin, with 76 MW under construction and 219 MW in planning, supported by Microsoft’s new cloud region.
The Rhineland region, gaining importance due to Microsoft’s planned data centers in Bergheim and Bedburg.
The total IT capacity of colocation data centers in Germany is projected to grow from 1.3 GW in 2024 to 3.3 GW by 2029, requiring over €24 billion in investments. This rapid expansion is driven by demand for AI, cloud services, and low-latency edge computing, though it is also placing increasing pressure on the national power grid.
Pressure on the grid!!! I’ll say!
Maybe gas fired power stations 9or nuclear) are a more reliable, cheaper and prettier option!
“Combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plants, which use waste heat from the gas turbine to generate steam for a secondary steam turbine, achieve much higher efficiency—up to 60–64%. A typical CCGT unit may consist of a 270 MW gas turbine paired with a 130 MW steam turbine, yielding a total output of 400 MW. Larger modern CCGT power blocks average 820 MW, with some exceeding 1,300 MW in size.
The total capital cost of a typical Combined-Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) plant in the United States is expected to be $1,463 per kilowatt (kW) in 2025, according to a 2024 forecast. This cost is projected to decrease to $1,191 per kW by 2050.
The total capital cost for a 400 MW onshore wind farm in the United States typically ranges from $520 million to $720 million, based on average capital expenditures of $1.3 million to $1.8 million per megawatt (MW).
Money seems no object for Germany (“Germany has approved a €500 billion special fund for infrastructure and climate investments, financed through borrowing, following a constitutional reform passed in March 2025.
You pays your money and you makes your choice – cheap, reliable and pretty behind the meter energy or expensive, unreliable and ugly wind farms. I wonder what city authorities in Germany made of the aesthetics of 100 storey forests of onshore and off shore wind turbines tha eradicate multiple entire flocks of birds?
Onwards!!!
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If Ai was truly as good as all the hype they spend on it, they should use it to design better cooling systems, etc., etc.