Data centers in Attica: digital breakthrough or water trap

Attica becomes a platform for new data centersbut infrastructure growth AI reinforces issues related to water, energy and ecology.

Attica is quickly becoming one of the main centers of Greece’s digital infrastructure. Large technology companies and investors are developing in the region data centersnecessary for cloud services, artificial intelligence and data storage. The government is presenting this as an investment success and a step towards the “digital economy.” But there is a less promotional side to this beautiful formula: such facilities require huge amounts of electricity, cooling, land and, in a number of technological solutions, water.

The Greek data center market is really growing. According to Kathimeriniits cost may increase from 695 million euros in 2023 until 1.2 billion euros by 2029. Facilities of major players are already operating and under construction in Attica, including Microsoft, Digital Realty and other companies. Οικονομικός Ταχυδρόμος specifically points out that new projects in Greece face two key challenges: energy And water.

It is these two resources that become the central issue. A single modern data center can require tens of megawatts of continuous power. For example, project Data in Scalejoint venture DAMAC And ΔΕΗat the first stage provides a power of about 12.5 MW expandable to 25 MW. For hyperscale objects, the load can be even higher. Initial estimates often involve powers of the order 55–60 MW for large complexes, but it is more correct to consider such a figure not as a universal indicator of “every” center, but as the level of very large objects.

Water becomes a strategic issue

The problem is not just electricity. Data centers generate a large amount of heat, which means they need powerful cooling systems. Depending on the technology, they can use air, liquid, evaporative or hybrid cooling. Water consumption varies greatly from facility to facility, but international practice shows: in boom conditions AI The issue of water is becoming increasingly acute.

So, Axios writes that Google used in 2024 7.2 billion gallons fresh water and, amid public pressure, published new recommendations for water use in data centers. The company recognizes that future cooling methods will need to depend on local conditions, especially in water-stressed regions.

For Attica This is not an abstract international debate. The region was already experiencing serious stress on water reserves. According to Associated Presswater supplies in the four reservoirs supplying Athens fell by more than 1 billion cubic meters m in 2022 to approx. 390 million cubic meters mleading to the declaration of a water emergency in the capital region.

Later, heavy rains improved the situation: Kathimerini reported that reserves in the reservoir Mornos have grown significantly since the critical minimum in 2025. But even experts, assessing the recovery, warned that the improvement should not lead to complacency.

Mornos, Marathon and new industrial load

Water supply system Attica relies on water resources Marathon, Iliki, Mornos And Evinosa. ΕΥΔΑΠ directly indicates that the capital’s raw water comes mainly from these sources.

Therefore, the conversation about new data centers cannot be carried out only in terms of investment, jobs and the “digital future”. In a region already facing droughts, infrastructure is added to existing urban, tourism and industrial demand. AIthe state must honestly answer several questions: how much water will these facilities consume, what cooling systems will be used, whether potable water, recycled water or closed circuits will be used, and who will monitor the actual performance.

The main problem so far is the lack of transparency. The public hears about investments, but rarely sees a clear assessment of each project’s water and energy footprint. And a data center is not an office with a coffee machine and a beautiful sign. This is an industrial facility that requires power, cooling and infrastructure connections around the clock. A very modern thing, if you forget that it is powered by quite old-fashioned resources: water, land and electricity.

“Green” investments or new load on the network

Supporters of the projects talk about digitalization, attracting capital and turning Greece into a regional technology hub. These are not empty words: the country can indeed gain new competencies, connections to international cloud platforms and a stronger digital infrastructure.

But the problem begins where such investments are automatically called “green”. A data center can be efficient, using renewable energy, recycled water and advanced cooling systems. But he still remains a large consumer. If electricity for it actually displaces other needs, if the load on the network grows, if water is taken from a scarce resource, then the “digital transition” turns into very material pressure on citizens.

This is why protests against new data centers are increasingly occurring in Europe and the United States. The complaints are usually the same: water consumption, increased load on the energy grid, noise, localized heat impacts, land occupation and a lack of transparent guarantees for local residents. In this sense, Attica is not unique. She just has less room for error: the region is already overloaded with population, transport, construction, heat and water stress.

The government sells success, but who pays the price?

Government Kyriakos Mitsotakis presents the development of data centers as part of the modernization of the country. However, the question is not whether Greece needs technology. Needed. The question is under what conditions they come and who pays their hidden costs.

If international corporations receive land, connections, benefits and political support, and citizens receive rising bills, pressure on water resources and a deteriorating quality of life, then this is no longer an “investment success”, but a very convenient scheme for the redistribution of public resources in favor of private profit.

It is especially dangerous if decisions are made without full public debate and without detailed environmental conditions. For each major facility, the following must be publicly understood: expected energy use, energy source, type of cooling, water use, potable or process water use, reuse measures, thermal impact, and drought management plan. Without this, words about “digital development” sound like new packaging for an old habit: first sign, then be surprised at the consequences.

Editorial comment

Data centers in themselves are not evil. Without them, cloud services, artificial intelligence, digital economy and modern communications are impossible. But placing them in an already overburdened Attica, where the water issue is turning from a seasonal problem into a strategic one, is a solution that requires not promotional press releases, but strict environmental and energy calculations.

The main danger is that the government is once again confusing investment with development. An investment is only useful if it does not pass on its costs to society. If multinational corporations get infrastructure, land and resources, but citizens are left with expensive energy, the risk of water shortages and another source of environmental pressure, this is not modernization. This is the privatization of benefit and the socialization of damage.

Greece really needs to participate in the digital economy. But not at the cost of turning Attica into an industrial zone for servers, where water and electricity become raw materials for other people’s algorithms. The government is obliged to prove not that data centers are beneficial to companies – this is already clear, corporations are not a charitable circle. It must prove that these projects are safe for residents, water resources, the energy grid and the future of the region. So far, society sees fewer such guarantees than presentations about the “digital future.”

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