Data center in Larisa: millions of liters of water and gigawatts of energy for 300 jobs

In Larisa are planning a new one data centerwhich, according to Greek media, can consume huge amounts of energy and water for the sake of a limited number of jobs.

In Larisa a new major one is being prepared data centerand a scandal is already breaking out around the project. According to the Greek edition Pronewsthe facility can consume electricity comparable to the annual consumption 500 thousand householdsand about 100 million liters of water per year for cooling servers. The promised return for the local economy looks much more modest – up to 300 jobs.

On my own data center – not exotic or capricious. Without such objects it is impossible artificial intelligencecloud services, digital economy, banks, platforms and all that convenient digital life that people enjoy while they scold “servers out there somewhere.” The problem is not technology per se. The problem is where, at whose expense and for what return it is placed.

Larisa and all Thessaly – not a region with excess water and a mild climate. This is a zone of high summer temperatures, agriculture, pressure on water resources and constant talk of drought. That is why the idea of ​​​​building energy- and water-intensive digital infrastructure there raises a logical question: who will benefit, and who will then pay the bills?

According to ICTplusthe project is linked to a wider initiative costing approx. 600 million eurosincluding a gas power plant in the industrial zone of Larisa and the development data center power more 200 MW in Central Greece. Energypress also announced the creation of the company Larissa Data Center Α.Ε.which is called a harbinger of an infrastructure project in the region.

“Green” rhetoric and very gluttonous reality

The picture turns out to be indecently familiar. For years, citizens have been told that they need to save water, turn off air conditioners, pay more for energy, refuse plastic and demonstrate “environmental awareness”. And then in a region with heat and resource shortages, a project appears that will require huge amounts of electricity and water.

If the spending data is confirmed, the local community has the right to ask why the ordinary consumer should once again be the main culprit of the environmental problem, while large digital infrastructure receives the status “investment of the future”? For a citizen – restrictions and bills. For corporations – networks, water, energy and solemn statements about development. A very modern form of justice, right with air conditioning in the server room.

The issue of water is especially painful. Thessalia TV has already raised the question of where exactly they will get water for the so-called “valley data centers” in Larisa. This is not rhetorical trivia. International research shows that large data centers can consume significant amounts of water, especially in hot regions and when cooling systems are used. According to EESIlarge data centers in some cases use millions of gallons of water per day, and the development of AI is increasing the pressure on energy and water resources.

300 jobs against a huge load

Supporters of the project will talk about investment, modernization and the digital future. This is expected. But the main question remains the same: what does Larisa and what does he give in return?

If we are really talking about hundreds of megawatts of power, a huge water footprint and just a few hundred jobs, then this no longer looks like a breakthrough economy for the region. It’s more like turning the country into a cheap one “electric parking” for tech giants: the infrastructure is local, the resources are local, the environmental risk is local, and the main added value is far from a guarantee that it will remain in Greece.

Yes, data centers needed. Yes, artificial intelligence and digital services require physical infrastructure. But this does not relieve the state of the responsibility to consider water, energy, grid load, jobs, taxes and environmental consequences. Otherwise, any gluttonous installation can be called “innovation” and wait for applause from those who will then have their tariffs raised.

Editorial comment

History with data center in Larisa – this is not a dispute between progress and backwardness. This is a debate about a development model. Greece is offered to become a digital hub, but so far too often it looks like a scheme: resources are taken here, the risks stay here, and the real profits go to where the infrastructure owners sit.

If the state wants to locate such projects in hot and water-scarce regions, it is obliged to openly show the calculations: how much water, how much energy, what tariff consequences, what taxes, what jobs and what guarantees for local residents. Without this “investment of the future” risks turning out to be old Greek history in a new digital package: big promises at the top and a bill for citizens at the bottom.

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