Europe’s push to build its own artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure is intensifying a debate over whether its electricity system can keep pace.
Data-centre electricity consumption across the continent is projected to rise from 96 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2024 to 236 TWh by 2035, according to UK-based energy think tank Ember.
Europe needs more data centres to expand its AI capacity, but they add further demand to already strained electricity grids. That power crunch is, in turn, making it harder to connect and build new facilities.
But some startups in Europe are pitching ways to tackle the region’s power crunch.
Euronews Next took a look at their efforts to reduce the electricity used for cooling, manage demand with batteries and put waste heat to use.
Startups rethink cooling with sensors, simulations and liquid
Servers generate a lot of heat, which must be removed to stop them from overheating.
Rather than relying on cooling equipment alone, UK startup EkkoSense places wireless sensors inside data-centre rooms to monitor temperature, airflow, power and cooling capacity.
Its software turns the readings into a three-dimensional view, helping operators identify equipment receiving too much or too little cooling.
In 2024, EkkoSense deployed its system across 20 data-centre sites operated by Virgin Media O2, one of the UK’s largest telecommunications companies.
The system cut cooling energy by an average of 15%, according to Virgin Media O2, saving more than £1 million (about €1,166,588) annually and the equivalent of 760 tonnes of carbon dioxide under location-based accounting.
While EkkoSense watches what is happening inside the room, German startup etalytics recreates the cooling system in a simulation.
Its software tests how chillers, pumps and heat exchangers would perform under different conditions. It then calculates how they could operate while using less electricity and keeping temperatures within safe limits.
Last year, Japanese technology company NTT tested etalytics’ simulation software at its data-centre facility in Bonn.
The electricity used by its chillers fell by 19.1% during the first months of a trial, with NTT expecting savings to reach as much as 25% over a full year.
Spanish startup Submer takes a different approach by changing the cooling hardware itself.
Its systems immerse servers in a non-conductive liquid that carries heat away directly, reducing the need for energy-intensive fans and air conditioning.
“The solution developed by Submer uses a new liquid cooling technique to increase energy efficiency by up to 50%, reduce carbon emissions from the use of refrigerant gases, reduce the footprint and improve the total cost of ownership (TCO) of data centres,” said Submer’s client Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica, in a blog post.
Software gives data-centre batteries a second job
Data centres use batteries to keep servers running during an outage. Some startups are now using those same batteries to help manage when a facility draws electricity from the grid.
Irish energy-technology company GridBeyond has developed software that controls when batteries charge and discharge in response to conditions on the electricity network.
The batteries can charge when electricity is abundant. When demand rises, they can supply some of the facility’s power, reducing the amount it needs to draw from the grid at that moment.
Its software has been installed at two Dublin data centres owned by Singaporean company Keppel DC REIT, providing a combined 8 MW of flexible capacity, according to GridBeyond.
Turning server heat into heating
Other startups are focusing on the heat produced by computing equipment.
UK start-up Deep Green places compact computing facilities next to organisations that need heat, such as swimming pools and district-heating networks.
Liquid warmed by the servers carries that heat into the neighbouring building’s heating system.
In a trial in southwest England, Deep Green told a local newspaper that donating heat to a swimming pool would cut its gas use by 62%, save more than £20,000 (about €23,331) a year and reduce its annual carbon emissions by 25.8 tonnes.
“By moving data centres from industrial warehouses into the hearts of communities, our ‘digital boilers’ put waste heat to good use, saving local businesses thousands of pounds on energy bills and reducing their carbon footprint,” Mark Bjornsgaard, CEO of Deep Green, told Exmouth Journal.
“Pools are just the start and around 30% of all industrial and commercial heat needs could be provided by this technology.”
However, greater efficiency and flexibility cannot replace physical expansion. As AI demand grows, Europe will ultimately need more electricity generation and stronger grids.
According to the International Energy Agency, new grid infrastructure can take between five and 15 years to plan, approve and complete.
Still, the work of these startups could ease pressure on Europe’s power system while that infrastructure is being built.