Austria's SPÖ seeks to revise environmental law over Google data center

Plans for Google's data center expansion in Kronstorf, Austria, are sparking significant debate, prompting the SPÖ party to demand revisions to the country's Environmental Impact Assessment (UVP) law. SPÖ environment spokesperson Julia Herr criticized the current legislation, noting that data centers are not explicitly listed as a project category requiring UVP assessment. This omission means that projects, like Google's, which do not meet specific thresholds, can proceed without the rigorous environmental review applied to smaller initiatives.

Herr emphasized the importance of data centers for the economy, research, and digitalization but stressed that this should not come at the expense of environmental oversight. She pointed to alarming figures regarding the facility's projected energy consumption, estimating it to be equivalent to that of 900,000 households – more than the total number in Upper Austria. Furthermore, the potential daily discharge of 5.8 million liters of 30-degree Celsius water into the Enns River raises serious environmental concerns.

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Data centers are important for the economy, research, and digitalization. But that cannot mean that the impact on the environment is simply ignored.

"It cannot be that small wind power projects are strictly tested for their environmental impact, while huge server halls on green fields can get by without review," Herr stated, drawing a stark contrast in regulatory scrutiny. The SPÖ's push to include data centers in the ongoing UVP law negotiations aims to ensure that such large-scale digital infrastructure projects undergo thorough environmental impact assessments, addressing issues of energy, water usage, and potential ecological damage.

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It cannot be that small wind power projects are strictly tested for their environmental impact, while huge server halls on green fields can get by without review.