Europe Told To Cool Its Datacenter Boom Before Water, Power Run Short (theregister.com)
- Reference: 0183438154
- News link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/05/28/2022251/europe-told-to-cool-its-datacenter-boom-before-water-power-run-short
- Source link: https://www.theregister.com/on-prem/2026/05/28/europe-told-to-cool-its-datacenter-boom-before-water-and-power-run-short/5247994
> According to the report, the EU-wide server farm IT load is about 10 GW today, and is expected to rise to 35 GW by 2030 -- just four years away. These facilities account for about 3 percent of all electricity consumption now, but this is projected to hit 7-9 percent by the end of the decade. Water and energy are intertwined in cooling systems. Grundfos claims that cooling infrastructure accounts for a substantial share of a datacenter's resource use, representing about 38 percent of total electricity consumption in an average facility, while water demand in large hyperscale facilities can reach 11,356 to 18,927 cubic meters per day -- enough for up to 155,000 EU households.
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> Rapid growth in bit barns is placing increased pressure on energy systems, water resources and local infrastructure, the report notes. Without careful coordination, inefficient or poorly sited facilities risk exacerbating these problems and triggering public opposition. [...] Grundfos advises regulators to integrate water efficiency and cooling design requirements directly into planning approvals for new facilities and any large-scale expansions to encourage adoption of efficient cooling technologies. It also advocates investment incentives from governments such as tax credits, green financing mechanisms, and grant programs for technologies that demonstrably reduce energy and water consumption. Integration between server halls and district heating networks is another aspect worth consideration, the report adds.
[1] https://www.grundfos.com/media/white-papers-and-policy-papers/scale-and-secure-powering-europe-s-digital-sovereignty
[2] https://www.theregister.com/on-prem/2026/05/28/europe-told-to-cool-its-datacenter-boom-before-water-and-power-run-short/5247994
Grundfos? (Score:3)
Who in fuck is Grundfos?
"Grundfos is a global leader in advanced pump and water solutions, renowned for its highly efficient, reliable, and sustainable pumping systems."
Ah.
Re: (Score:2)
They make consumer products too. I have one of their recirculating pumps on my water heater.
Re:Grundfos? (Score:5, Informative)
> Why does your water heater need a pump?
Instead of having your hot water fan out in a tree, you wire it like a token ring with a return pipe, where each faucet only has a short bit of pipe between it and the ring. Then, you have a pump to circulate hot water through the ring-shaped pipe network. That way, it takes half a second to get hot water instead of half a minute or more.
Re: Grundfos? (Score:3)
In my very large home, some of the fixtures take 3 minutes if the pump is off. It wasted a lot of water.
The pump is loud, and vibrations can be hard in the entire home. It also wastes a significant amount of electricity. Constant unnecessary recirculation also wastes a lo of energy in the water heater.
I put the pump on a smart switch. I added home automation, with motion sensors near showers, and energy monitoring plugs for appliances, that trigger the pump only when needed. There is still a delay to get ho
Re: (Score:3)
If your pump is loud, you need a new one. One that is properly sized. It should be somewhere between "are you sure it's even working?" quiet to barely audible if you're in the same room with no other source of noise.
Should probably also only be like 100 watts or so at most.
=Smidge=
Re: (Score:2)
I have already replaced it. Same issue. There may well be quieter models, but I'm just very sensitive to the pump vibrations. There is a bedroom adjacent to the utility room where the pump is located, and while it is a guest room, it can interfer with sleep, depending on how sensitive the guest is - probably not my mother, since she can just take her hearing aids off. The home theater is also adjacent, and I want silences in movie to really be silences.
100W constant load is 876 kWh per year. The average kWh
Re: (Score:3)
> Who in fuck is Grundfos?
> "Grundfos is a global leader in advanced pump and water solutions, renowned for its highly efficient, reliable, and sustainable pumping systems."
> Ah.
Translation: A company that has the potential to benefit from regulation by squeezing out competitors wants more regulation.
I'm not saying they're not right, just that it seems awfully convenient for a company specializing in pumps that recirculate data center water to want efficiency regulations that would push customers towards their most efficient (and thus presumably most high-margin) pumps.
Re:Grundfos? (Score:4, Interesting)
Having a product to sell doesn't make them wrong. There are multiple energy grids across Europe that are completely overloaded. There are multiple water supplies including ground water that are massively under strain.
And when I say overloaded I mean in some places there are even proposals to use the mobile phone emergency alert message to ask consumers to shed loads (e.g. unplug cars, stop their washing machines, etc). [1]https://www.rtvutrecht.nl/nieu... [rtvutrecht.nl] (in Dutch). In Germany the HV grid is under such strain that at some time the price of electricity dips negative in one province only for it to spike in another. Only 12 hours ago Truin was in a complete blackout as Italy's power system was unable to cope with the load of everyone's AC units. There are massive anticipated water supply shortages looming in Spain, France, and even the god damn Netherlands where it rains 364.5 days a year (bit of a joke but not far off).
While it's always healthy to have a bit of scepticism whenever someone has a solution to sell you, one shouldn't turn off their brain entirely and dismiss the claim outright. .
[1] https://www.rtvutrecht.nl/nieuws/4042819/nl-alert-met-vraag-wasmachine-uit-te-zetten-moet-overbelasting-stroomnet-voorkomen
enough water in the sea (Score:2)
now only if there were a company who could make highly efficient reliable and sustainable pumping systems.
Re: enough water in the sea (Score:2)
Ocean water would need another pipe source, normal water pipes currently bring clean drinking water
Cooling cycle (Score:3)
> 11,356 to 18,927 cubic meters per day
Is that make-up water for cooling towers? Or pumped out of a river, passed through an exchanger and then returned with some specified maximum temperature rise?
Re: So... (Score:2)
Canada might be a better choice, if they get rid of bill c22 at leastâ¦