Germany risks falling behind in the race to build data centres, Siemens Energy chief executive Christian Bruch warned this week.
"If we don't bring data centres and the associated value creation into the country, it will have consequences for our prosperity," Bruch said during a visit to Hamburg.
Siemens Energy does not build data centres itself but supplies the industry with parts.
US company Edgeconnex recently halted plans to build a data centre near Frankfurt, after a local citizens' initiative objected to the construction of a gas-fired power plant to generate electricity for the data centre.
"Frankly, things like this leave me at a loss," Bruch said of the dispute and the decision to halt the project.
He warned that Germany risked losing out on a window of opportunity, adding: "I see that danger very concretely when it comes to data centres and AI."
The CEO said he believed Europe still had a chance to become a serious player in artificial intelligence. "But for that, we also have to be willing to build the necessary infrastructure, such as data centres."
Data centres are becoming increasingly necessary to store data and run AI applications. The construction of such facilities has drawn criticism, partly due to the industry's growing energy demands.
The United States is leading the race for data centre capacities, ahead of China.
Germany has a capacity of just under 3 gigawatts, of which around 500 megawatts are dedicated to AI. German capacities are set to be expanded to at least 6 gigawatts in future, of which at least 2 gigawatts are to be reserved for AI applications.
