AI is driving an explosion in energy consumption that threatens to reach critical levels. Securing the supply of sovereign infrastructure must be a priority.
Since 2010, progress in the energy efficiency of IT equipment has made it possible to contain the increase in electricity consumption of data centers in Europe. While uses (cloud, streaming, mining, emerging AI) exploded, demand from data centers within the European Union oscillated between 45-65 TWh, representing approximately 1.8 to 2.6% of the Union’s total electricity consumption1.
But the era of artificial intelligence is opening a new cycle: according to a report by McKinsey & Company2 published in 2024, demand from data centers could almost triple by 2030 to exceed 150 TWh, or around 5% of the expected consumption of European electrical energy.
Why is AI fueling energy tension in Europe?
First observation: Europe is moving forward almost blindly. There is not yet an exhaustive inventory of data centers within the European Union, even though they constitute a pillar of the digital economy. Private bases list around one thousand four hundred sites located in enlarged Europe, which leads us to believe that the Union would number around one thousand three hundred, but this order of magnitude remains uncertain. In this context, it is difficult to see how to accurately anticipate energy demand. However, the park will continue to grow, driven by European needs, 252 are currently under construction3, but also by American and Chinese giants who are increasing their locations to offer their local customers regulatory compliance and guarantee minimal latency, essential for real-time AI uses.
In addition, energy intensity is exploding. Traditional data centers operated around 7 to 10 kW per rack. New sites dedicated to AI are increasing to 30, 60, or even more than 100 kW, driven by GPU clusters used for inference and instant applications. Sites are no longer content with being more numerous: they are becoming much denser and therefore much more energy intensive.
Finally, if notable progress emerges – more efficient servers, software optimization, immersion cooling using a specialized fluid rather than water – they will not be enough to compensate for the pace of this increase in power. Europe must anticipate, otherwise it will come up against the physical reality of electricity networks and cooling capacities, which will hamper its chances in the global AI race.
The need to secure the energy supply of sovereign data centers — and to require technology transfers in return for access to European energy
Faced with this inexorable rise in demand, Europe no longer has the luxury of energy innocence. Computing power is no longer a secondary issue: it conditions our industry, our defense, our research, our digital culture and, tomorrow, our democracy. This results in a simple imperative: to guarantee as a priority the supply of European sovereign data centers, those which host our public data, our strategic sectors and our national and European AI models. In a context where energy is becoming a lever of sovereignty, it would be irresponsible to let our essential computing capabilities depend on market fluctuations or pressure from non-European giants.
At the same time, Europe cannot continue to provide valuable energy — subsidized by its taxpayers or public investments — without strategic compensation. American and Chinese data centers located in Europe need our electricity to process our data, serve their local customers, reduce latency and comply with our regulations. They must therefore contribute to the European effort: access to energy in exchange for technology transfers, training, opening of computing capacities and participation in the European AI ecosystem.
Because China, like the United States, systematically protects its technological interests. China has never opened its market without compensation: in the automobile, aeronautics, energy or railway sectors, it has required technological transfers, local joint ventures and production obligations in exchange for access to its market. The United States follows the same logic, but by law: Cloud Act, ITAR, Buy American Act, CHIPS Act, Inflation Reduction Act — all devices which condition access to their market, their data and their industrial capacities.
Our energy cannot be a good of unconditional access: it must become an instrument of sovereignty and reciprocity. Each kilowatt-hour supplied to a non-European actor must contribute to strengthening our technological, industrial and scientific capacities — not to feed those of our competitors.
Sources:
(1) Energy Consumption in Data Centers and Broadband Communication Networks in the EU
(2) McKinsey
https://www.reuters.com/technology/europes-data-centre-power-demand-expected-triple-by-2030-mckinsey-report-says-2024-10-23/
(3) Europe Data Center Portfolio Report 2025
Photo by Lukáš Lehotský on Unsplash
