The "Data Center Location Index 2021" by the consulting firm Arcadis concludes that Germany has only mediocre framework conditions for the operation of Data centers offers. Thanks to the high demand for data in Europe, Germany is nevertheless one of the most attractive locations for data centers in Central Europe from an economic perspective.
Overall, the analysts examined the location conditions in emerging and already established IT nations. Leading the ranking are the U.S.A., followed by Singapore and Japan. Also in the top 10 are Sweden, Norway, Denmark, the United Arab Emirates and Finland, France and Switzerland. Germany lies with Position 26 behind the United Kingdom (13), Luxembourg (17), the Netherlands (19), Poland (20), Estonia (23), Austria (24) and Russia (25) but ahead of Ireland (28), Lithuania (29) Spain (30), Italy (31), Belgium (32), Iceland (36), Portugal (37) and the Czech Republic (38).
The sites were evaluated according to the nature and Costs power supply, general reliability, the duration of approval processes, cyber security and data protection regulations, and privacy protection. Operating costs, potential environmental impacts and government subsidies were also included.
Infrastructure and policy speak for Germany
According to Arcadis, the political and legal aspects as well as the good infrastructure are positive factors in favour of Germany as a location. In addition, high domestic demand and the existing critical applications ensure a high local demand for data. The analysts also cite the stable power supply, the high mobile broadband usage and the increasing share of renewable energies as plus points, which in Germany in 2020 for the first time will be 50 percent exceeded has. Due to the high energy requirements, data center operators are increasingly demanding renewable energies in order to maintain their reputation as a "responsible provider".
The disadvantages for Germany are the high level of bureaucracy and the resulting very slow approval processes as well as the high requirements. Currently, the majority of data centers in Germany are still located in Frankfurt am Main. This is also where the world's largest Internet node, De-Cix, is located, with an average data volume of 6 TBit/s. However, alternative locations are becoming increasingly important in Germany because they offer alternative cooling options and regenerative energies. One example of this is the CO2-positive Windcloud data center in northern Germany.
