Municipalities bear main responsibility for sustainable data centre construction

Municipalities bear the main responsibility for ensuring that data centre construction is sustainable, Finnish Environment and Climate Minister Sari Multala said, according to Yle.

Multala said municipalities have the practical tools to reduce and avoid harmful effects on nature, including through various policy decisions.

Her comments came in Lahti on Tuesday at the Luontofoorumi nature forum, one day before Google announced a major investment in Finland. There is not yet an exact estimate of the electricity consumption of the new data centres, but estimates made before Google’s announcement indicated that data centres could increase electricity consumption in Finland by tens of per cent.

Researchers previously interviewed by Yle have said electricity consumption cannot increase indefinitely, even if the electricity is produced from renewable energy sources.

Limited tools at national level

Multala acknowledged that the national government has limited means to steer data centre investments in Finland.

Among the government’s measures, she cited a proposed registration requirement for data centres. A draft law on the requirement is currently being circulated for comments.

“As decision-makers at national level, we are trying to ensure that growth is as sustainable as possible,” Multala said. She added that the government would launch a new legislative project concerning the adequacy of electricity networks.

Multala said demand for data centres was linked to societal development and digitalisation.

“As society becomes more electrified and artificial intelligence is used increasingly across different parts of society, these data centres are also needed,” she said.