Environmental challenges of digitalization: how much energy does the Kragujevac data center consume?

Supercomputers at the Kragujevac State Data Center are officially put into operation, but the question of the cost of such technological development – primarily through mass consumption of electricity and water – is rarely raised in public. Professor Srđan Verbić's analysis in the weekly magazine Vreme points out that such centers can become a serious pressure on local infrastructure – including the energy infrastructure

A server farm in Kragujevac is already operating at a capacity of 14 megawatts, while in the coming years an upgrade to as much as 40 megawatts is planned. For comparison, such a system consumes energy at the level of an average town the size of Požarevac.

Energy and water 'hunger' of the system

Data centers, by their nature, are enormous converters of electrical energy into heat. The problem arises because that heat has to be efficiently removed in order for the system to function.

Verbić, thus, claims that when a facility reaches its full capacity of 40 megawatts, it is equivalent to the operation of 10,000 heating elements of 4 kilowatts each that run continuously, 24 hours a day, year-round. Verbić also notes that cooling is one of the critical points: it is estimated that modern data centers consume between 35% and 50% of total energy just for cooling systems. Namely, traditional air conditioners are not sufficient, so vast amounts of water are used for cooling. Global data show that such plants consume tens of billions of liters of water daily, thereby inevitably affecting local water resources. And due to the constant emission of heat, near large data centers around the world there have been temperature increases ('urban heat islands') from 2 to as much as 9 degrees Celsius.

Ekonomski bilans: Lokalna korist ili teret?

The question Verbić raises is not only technological but developmental. While states attract such investments, local communities in developed countries increasingly demand moratoriums on their construction, about which we have also written on Nuclear Perspective.

The reason is simple: data centers are high-tech "storage facilities" that employ a small number of people (often fewer than 100 technicians and guards), while at the same time they require enormous resources of electricity and water. In the context of Serbia, the question arises whether such projects bring real economic benefit to the local community or whether the burden of maintaining the infrastructure is, in the long run, greater than the tax revenues.

“Artificial intelligence has long since ceased to be pure technology. Developed countries want to retain only development, while for other operational needs they seek 'digital allies' who will provide resources and infrastructure," says Professor Verbić, warning of the danger that developing countries become destinations for energy-intensive projects that wealthier nations are increasingly reluctant to accept.

While we await full operationalization of the Kragujevac system, the debate on how to balance digital progress and the protection of natural resources becomes a key issue for the future of the energy sector in Serbia – a darkness that, it seems, has not yet even been touched.

You can read the full text on site of Vreme.