Berlin (AFP)
The American giant Google will invest one billion euros "by 2030" in Germany in cloud infrastructures and the renewable energies necessary for their operation.
"In Germany (...) by 2030, investments in digital infrastructure and clean energy will amount to one billion euros," the group said in a statement Tuesday.
The giant intends to "expand" its cloud center located in Hanau, in the Frankfurt region, in the west of the country, which already has 10,000 m2.
Google also wants to create a new data storage facility in Brandenburg, the region around Berlin.
Google will also invest in Germany in "solar and wind" renewable energy installations to supply "80%" of its installations.
"This is an important step towards achieving our goal of decarbonization by 2030", indicates the American group.
To do this, the group will join forces with the German subsidiary of the French company Engie, which will have to deliver a total of "140 megaWatt" of green energy.
The storage of digital data, through the cloud, is the subject of many criticisms for its consumption of large quantities of energy.
The German government welcomed this decision, the Minister of the Economy Peter Altmaier welcoming a "strong signal" for the attractiveness of Europe's largest economy.
Google currently has four sites in Germany, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich.
The giant employs 2,500 people in total.
The issue of the cloud, and more generally of the place where the data of European citizens is stored, has become a major strategic issue in recent years.
A European project, Gaia X, launched last year by France and Germany, aims to strengthen the continent's independence in this area, currently dominated by Chinese and American companies.
But non-European companies, like Google, or even Amazon and Microsoft, are not excluded from the device, even if they do not sit on the board of directors.
© 2021 AFP