Big tech gets caught up in Europe’s energy politics

Cold storage in a Meta data center. Meta, the owner of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, was planning its new investment in the Dutch town of Zeewolde, 55 kilometers (34 miles) east of Amsterdam, but has since put its plans there on hold. — Meta

When Google wanted to build a new US$1.1bil (RM4.84bil) data centre in the Luxembourg countryside, the government championed the investment and helped the company to acquire the land. Authorities in the Netherlands granted Meta Platforms Inc permission for what promised to be an even bigger one, part of the country’s ambition to become Europe’s “digital hub”.

With a squeeze on energy supplies because of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the political metrics are now changing for the giant facilities. The two projects were paused after grassroots resistance from locals and environmental activists. But when the focus is on ensuring the lights stay on this winter, data computing and storage that can guzzle a small town’s worth of power are no longer as in vogue for some European governments.