Data powers the digital economy – and it needs space. In Aragón, northeast of Madrid, a surge in data center projects is underway. The region offers green energy, but not everyone is on board. What’s driving the push, and the protests?
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00:00Zaragoza, Spain. Long a crossroads of civilizations, today the region faces a new wave of arrivals.
00:08American tech giants bringing high security industrial facilities. The regional government is thrilled.
00:15It's very good news. And it's extremely important news. This was the year in which the most investments were announced.
00:25Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and others plan to invest more than 30 billion euros in a region mainly known for agriculture and logistics centers.
00:37But why Aragón? We turned to industry group Spain DC in Madrid for answers. But they had no time for us.
00:47Amazon responded only in writing. But we found our answer in Zaragoza.
00:56The best way to get cheap electricity is to use renewable energy sources, wind and solar.
01:02And here we have both wind and solar, plus we have the space and the necessary infrastructure.
01:09Carlos Abero and his team have analyzed the electricity supply here. Aragón produces more renewable energy than it consumes.
01:19But what about the future? And just how much energy do data centers use?
01:25Our studies estimate about 26 terawatt hours, roughly 5% of national consumption.
01:31Our projections show that data centers will require a lot of energy, but in the grand scheme it's a manageable share.
01:41But these estimates assume a continued expansion of renewables.
01:45Local environmentalists were late to recognize data centers as an issue, but are now deeply concerned about their impact.
01:54We're electrifying transportation and industrial processes, replacing fossil fuels, nuclear and gas.
02:03We can't just allocate all newly generated quote-unquote green electricity to data centers, which are essentially black holes for energy.
02:15Nonetheless, the government and businesses in Aragón argue that data centers will bring economic benefits, particularly in the labor market.
02:26These new investments will create high-quality, highly skilled and well-paid jobs.
02:33One example is ORIGEN in Zaragoza. The startup helps businesses optimize processes using artificial intelligence.
02:41It also provides genetic sequencing and analysis, and that relies heavily on Amazon's servers.
02:50One person's genetic data is 200 gigabytes. To compare one individual with many, I have to compare multiple 200-gigabyte datasets.
02:59That requires vast cloud storage capacity and immense computing power.
03:04Companies like ORIGEN are growing and creating jobs, likely more than all the planned data centers combined.
03:11Once they're built, data centers create relatively few jobs.
03:17Meanwhile, environmentalists in Zaragoza held their first conference on the issue.
03:22They want transparency, but the U.S. companies remain tight-lipped.
03:27A tax expert made one thing clear. These server farms will contribute little to the local tax base.
03:36The local, the Aragón regional and national tax structures don't provide clarity on how much these companies will pay.
03:44These projects often highlight their GDP contribution, but that should come with a tax burden.
03:52As it stands, we have no idea what their actual tax contribution might be.
04:01The audience was alarmed by what they heard.
04:06We don't even realize what we're letting ourselves in for.
04:11I don't think the politicians understand the implications either. Nobody does.
04:18This is an Amazon data center in the U.S.
04:21The amount of water their servers require for cooling isn't publicly disclosed.
04:26But environmentalists fear that local agriculture will suffer.
04:30Water is already a worry in Aragón.
04:34The proposed adaptation measures are disgraceful.
04:38Instead of enabling farmers to sustain their livelihood,
04:43authorities behave in a paternalistic manner, pushing unnecessary technical advice on water conservation.
04:54The environmentalists plan to raise awareness about the cloud industry's hidden costs.
05:00And they hope the EU and the Spanish government will enforce stronger transparency rules for data centers.