The US internet giant Google announced on Tuesday it will invest more than $1 billion in expansion of its cloud data centres and renewable energy facilities, marking a further step towards Germany’s digital sovereignty, Euractiv Germany reports.
The vice president of Google Central Europe, Philipp Justus, said that Germany’s digitalisation and its sustainability are the first thing they see as the big issues of the future that will shape the country.
Within the largest investment package it has put together in Germany in over two decades, Google wants to expand the data centres that support its cloud computing services and envisages use of green energy to support the expansion of energy-intensive data infrastructure.
The two new cloud data centres in Hanau near Frankfurt and near Berlin are planned to reduce data traffic latencies and provide better cloud infrastructure for Google’s German and European customers
Though significant part of the investment is going into the expansion of renewable energies in partnership with the German company Engie with plans for supplying the data centres only with electricity from renewable energies by 2030, critics see this as Google’s missed opportunity for more ambition in the field of renewable energies.
Leading Green MEP Jutta Paulus noted that the lack of investment in truly innovative technologies like immersion cooling, as part of Google’s unveiled measures, should be criticized given Google’s strong economic position.
Pleased with Google’s investment offensive, Germany’s Economy Minister Peter Altmaier called it a strong signal for Germany as a business location and a step closer to its goal of digital and data sovereignty with the help of its “important partner” Google.
Other large US tech giants have also shown a greater interest in Germany recently with Apple announcing in March a €1 billion investment in its ‘European Silicon Design Centre’ in Munich that focuses on the 5G and wireless technologies expansion.
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