A modern data center participates in energy production

From the reader. The debate about data centers and their economic effects is lively. In particular, there have been warnings about the even reckless energy consumption of data centers.

However, the essential question is not how many data centers Finland can fit, but what kind of data centers we should build.

In the current discussion, all data centers have been put in the same basket as industrial halls that only use cheap electricity and sometimes do questionable activities such as bitcoin mining.

There are a lot of risks involved in such projects: operators can leave the town as quickly as they arrived and leave millions in arrears behind.

High added value model

Modern data centers work differently. They are a key part of the infrastructure of their jurisdiction and surrounding areas, especially energy production.

Pioneering companies in the field already offer solutions in which the opportunity for data center business is seamlessly combined with clean energy production, energy storage and waste heat recycling.

In fact, Finland should build a data center model with a high added value in line with the study published by the Government at the end of the year, in which the number of centers is not maximized, but the quality. The central point in the model would be to require clear compensation from data center operators for their location.

If the data center gets access to limited network capacity and clean electricity, it must actively support the electricity system in return. This means in particular the centers’ own back-up power solutions, which enable self-sufficiency when there is a shortage of energy or its price is high.

The requirements should include, for example, the mandatory ability to generate sufficient control power for the electrical network.

There are signs of a bubble in the data center boom and only a small part of the announced projects will be realized. It is therefore important to ensure that the projects that are realized are those that benefit the national economy and do not just consume cheap energy.

Seppo Ihalainen

founder, ecogrid.energy ltd