Silent power guzzlers: Switzerland’s booming data centres

Data centres are popping up across Switzerland, driven in part by the growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI). But it comes at a cost: higher water consumption, the soaring use of electricity and the waste of heat left unused. By 2030, such centres could consume up to 15% of the country’s total electricity, writes Swiss public broadcaster, SRF. In Dielsdorf, a village in canton Zurich which was once shaped by agriculture, farmland has shrunk by nearly a fifth in the past 40 years. But the most dramatic transformation has happened over the past four years. Fields once used to grow crops are now home to giant servers powering the data economy. In 2023, Green.ch, one of Switzerland’s biggest digital service providers, launched its first high-performance data centre in Dielsdorf. Two others are currently under construction. The three data centres are expected to produce a total capacity of 35 megawatts. Once up and running in 2026, they will consume seven times more electricity ...