@robbie.morrison this has come up in the context of a new announcement today by the European Commission, about tripling DC capacity in the next 7 years. You can read some more below
To stimulate private sector investment in cloud capacity and data centres, the Commission will also propose a Cloud and AI Development Act. The goal is to at least triple the EU’s data centre capacity in the next five to seven years, prioritising highly sustainable data centres.
Source: Press corner | European Commission.
I’m particular interested in this bit here:
The part of the aggregate reference scenario of most interest to energy system modelers is the multi‑sheet E3M_technoecon_Energy.xlsx spreadsheet file that informs the closed‑source PRIMES framework developed by E3 Modelling in Athens.
Today 22 October 2024 the DG ENER held a Workshop on Technology Assumptions with about 40 participants in attendance. Many were representing trade associations, with university researchers, NGOs, and others present too.
The assumptions and parameters adopted during the current consultation will be published in an updated version of the same spreadsheet and also accompanied by documentation.
I can’t see how this triple DC capacity is acheivable, and I’m trying to understand what kind quantative basis there is for it.
I’d like to respond to consultation that opened today, but it’s much easier to have a data informed discussion if you have access to data like the spreadsheet above.
This is particularly the cases given that there would likely be some form of financial support made available to help firms hit this target.