Hosting News digest from 4 August 2022

Google data centers in the US will be powered by solar energy

As part of its green agenda, Google plans to switch its data centers in the US to solar power. The corporation claims that it already uses 68% of its sustainable energy in Alabama and Tennessee. Skyhawk Solar has already begun construction of a solar power plant for the corporation’s data centers, with support from regional authorities. It is assumed that the large-scale project will be located on an area of 300 hectares and will include 300 thousand solar panels. The plant will have a capacity of 100 MW. The station will supply energy only for the company’s hyperscale data centers in Alabama and Tennessee.

Europe’s data centers are thinking about reducing water consumption

By 2040 European data center operators could reduce water usage to 400 ml per 1 kWh. This initiative was launched by the Climate Neutral Data Center Pact, a group of which 90 percent of data center operators in Europe are members. Another goal of the group is to reduce the carbon footprint to zero before 2050. Microsoft and Meta have also said they aim to arrive at a positive water footprint as early as 2030. Microsoft is now already building wastewater stations for its data centers. Meanwhile, Google, also concerned about the green agenda, has not yet disclosed its water consumption figures.

The world’s largest data center market faces catastrophic power shortages

  Data centers in Northern Virginia are going through tough times. In addition to an active local fight against data centers, the market has met another problem – there are not enough power lines to keep all data centers fully operational. Digital Realty reports that Dominion Energy, the local energy supplier, has confirmed that it anticipates power supply problems until roughly 2026. The main problem is said to be a shortage of power lines, not a lack of capacity. Today, Loudoun County is one of the most important players in the global digital economy. Data centers here occupy millions of square meters and bring in more than $600 million a year to the treasury, taking into account property taxes alone.