The development of data centers in Île-de-France
Elements for a regional and territorial strategy
September 25, 2023 [Contact](mailto:[email protected];[email protected]) Cécile Diguet, Maximilian Gawlik, Nicolas Laruelle
Data centers have become an infrastructure inherent in digital uses for about fifteen years, driven in particular by the explosion of virtualization (clouds, platforms). Yet, they remain almost invisible objects to the general public, and relatively opaque in the eyes of public actors. In Île-de-France, as in other European and global metropolises, data centers are now becoming a subject of public policy and local debate, in connection with the awareness of the environmental impacts of digital technology, and the necessary trajectory to be taken towards sobriety.
The spectacular development of the data center market that we have been observing since the beginning of the 2000s is the result of the digitization of all human activities (economy, administration, health, education, culture, leisure...). Worldwide, the number of data centers is continuously increasing. The Île-de-France region is an attractive territory for hosting data centers in France and one of the most attractive in Europe. Over the past two decades, the development of data centers has accelerated to reach a total of more than 160 data centers in 2023.
In Île-de-France, there is a great variety of host territories, forms, ages, and types of data centers. Source: The Paris Region Institute, 2023.
This study provides a better understanding of these infrastructures, recent in the history of urban planning and the Paris region. By analyzing the existing data center park, The Institute notes a certain number of technical, building, security, and programmatic characteristics common between data centers, others distinguishing them resulting in a great diversity of sizes, shapes, functions, techniques, and operating methods. To better understand their implementation methods and the resulting spatial impacts, a typology based on exclusively spatial criteria is proposed in part 2 of this work. Thus, five types of data centers ("Infiltrated data center", "Converted data center in Activity Zone", "New and optimized data center", "Converted and expandable data center" and "New data center on the metropolitan fringes") have been identified. They are illustrated by concrete examples.
Example of a typical "New and optimized data center" sheet which is part of the 5 types of data centers identified by The Paris Region Institute in this report.
According to our observations of current development trends, the data center market tends to accelerate with the risk of even skyrocketing in the coming years, which is confirmed by the projections of ADEME and ARCEP, as well as the knowledge of upcoming projects by electricity operators and the MRAe of Île-de-France. Some types of data centers are developing more strongly than others and in the coming years, growth should continue in certain territories of Île-de-France and slow down in others. Thus, demands will probably increase, in number but especially in installed electrical power and in ground footprint, in territories where there are favorable local political contexts and large lots available in new economic activity sites likely to host the emerging model of large-scale "cloud data centers" operated notably by Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. Demands will probably also continue where the potential for urbanization has not yet been reached and in aging business parks and/or derelict buildings and land. Finally, territories where local urban planning documents allow such installations and where there are no particular obstacles in terms of electrical availability or Internet network are also concerned. Conversely, growth should slow down, where dense territories in full urban transformation face increasing land pressure and where there is a need to reduce nuisances and/or urban cuts for the population at the same time as improving the living environment (by creating green spaces, public facilities, etc.). This deceleration would also concern sectors where there is reluctance and/or local mobilization against the artificialization of soils or in favor of an alternative project in a denser environment and in sectors of local tension on electricity distribution and transmission networks.
The growth of the data center market in Île-de-France could have a considerable impact on electricity consumption and on the robustness of the electricity network, in a context of increasing needs, linked in particular to the electrification of mobility, and uncertainty about production capacities. It will also have repercussions on the Parisian land (land pressure on already urbanized lands) and the dynamics of urban extension and artificialization of agricultural, or even forest, land, and more broadly on natural resources (including water and materials). The overall impact of the risks, pollution, and nuisances produced by data centers on human health remains to be studied (noise for example), but certain aspects of it are already well known, such as the risk of fire or the contribution to overheating of cities (fatal heat released into the environment and urban heat island effect). Taking these issues into account is therefore not only necessary for new projects but also concerns the existing data center park.
This study outlines thematic issues that allow public actors to better understand these issues related to this growth of data centers. These are the following issues:
- Land sobriety and preservation of full land;
- Urban integration;
- Prevention of risks, pollution, and nuisances;
- Sustainable energy management;
- Sustainable management of other resources.
Sometimes, solutions (technical, spatial, building...) already exist, here and elsewhere, but they often remain unknown due to a lack of knowledge sharing. In other cases, new ways of doing things will still have to be invented. Taking these issues and their impact into account is a first step, allowing, tomorrow, public and private actors to find responses adapted to each territory. It should not be forgotten that the financial means of data center actors and their appetite for innovation are greater than those of other activities. Should they not become a lever to design flagship projects in terms of energy and water and materials efficiency and sobriety, but also in terms of architectural quality and urban and landscape integration?
Part 4 of this study offers a list of precise proposals, based on the criteria and issues mentioned previously in the other parts of the report. These proposals aim to accompany public communities in the hosting of data centers in Île-de-France, ensuring to maximize the positive spin-offs of their development and to minimize the negative impacts. This concerns new installations and the existing park, where many improvements on landscape and urban integration and on architectural quality can still be made.
Our proposals are intended to be discussed primarily with public and parapublic actors identified to form the first core of the "collective of public and parapublic actors of data centers in Île-de-France", which is one of our main recommendations. Part 4 of this report also includes a first contribution to the development of a shared analysis grid for data center projects between public and parapublic actors in Île-de-France and which includes an emphasis on existing regulatory frameworks, environmental procedures, possible supervision tools... All these elements aim to guide the collective construction of a strategy for optimal integration of data centers in the different Parisian territories.
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