Overview
- Early September 2026 reporting shows roughly 100 large data‑center projects are planned or under construction in Germany, with many sites sized in the tens to hundreds of megawatts.
- These hyperscale sites can use as much electricity as small towns and require large amounts of water and land, with examples including a 65 MW proposal for Gießen and a planned 120 MW 'AI Factory' in Amberg.
- Local resistance has hardened at some locations, most notably Auchtertool in Scotland where Fife Council logged over 14,000 formal objections and the Scottish government ordered a full environmental impact assessment.
- Regulators are taking action to manage risk: Texas has paused new grid connections and now demands owner disclosure to avoid 'ghost' power requests, while Germany is pushing expansion for digital sovereignty and altering tax rules to share revenues with host communities.
- Public opinion and planners point to trade‑offs and fixes — a Bitkom survey finds two‑thirds of Germans open to local centers but 88% worry about energy use — and experts say coordinated siting near substations, renewables, and heat reuse are needed to prevent local service and environmental strain.