Political Demands for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany

 

Digitalisation has an enormous leverage effect on all value creation and innovation systems in the economy. Its potential for innovation and effectiveness – along with the associated challenges – must be accorded greater economic recognition and acknowleged in policy concepts.

  1. Digital infrastructures in international competition: Strengthening Germany as a data centre location
  1. Data centres form the foundation of digitalisation and serve as the physical baseline. Fast and reliable digital services for critical infrastructure, companies and private individuals can only be delivered if data centres have sufficient connectivity and capacity. In view of comprehensive, global digitalisation, this is a fundamental requirement for Germany’s future success and international competitiveness. Policymakers must therefore strategically strengthen Germany as a data centre location.
  2. Especially when it comes to new research and application scenarios in the field of artificial intelligence, it is imperative to create positive conditions for the establishment of energy-intensive, and yet highly efficient AI data centres. Given that the demand for computing power from AI is set to exponentially increase, this is particularly important. Germany can therefore play a central role in the future segment of artificial intelligence.
  3. With regard to digital infrastructures, policymakers in Germany at federal, state and local levels must take a holistic view of these infrastructures and work on their strength, promotion and expansion. The German federal government must therefore vigorously promote the rapid expansion of nationwide fibre optic networks and broad 5G coverage for mobile Internet in Germany. Public Wi-Fi hotspots are needed in every municipality. Digitalisation can only be made as energy-efficient as possible through this interplay.
  4. The German federal, state and local authorities must expedite application and authorisation processes and be more pragmatic in their stipulations for digital infrastructure operators. Accelerated procedures are also essential in order to construct or modernise data centres as quickly as possible and thus provide data with an energy-efficient and high-performance home in Germany in the future.
  1. Digital infrastructures in the context of supply security: Reduce electricity costs and drive forward the energy transition
  1. Electricity costs in Germany are already among the highest in all of Europe. This places data centre operators in Germany at a significant competitive disadvantage and jeopardises supply security. The levy and tax burden on electricity for data centres must be reduced to a competitive level. A potential industrial electricity price should also apply to data centres, given that digital infrastructures are also dependent on a secure and stable power supply.
  2. The German federal government must prioritise and accelerate the energy transition. The consistent rollout of renewable energies is a fundamental condition for operators of digital infrastructures and other electricity-intensive industries to contribute to realising Germany’s and Europe’s ambitious CO2 goals.

 

  1. Digital infrastructures & sustainability: Practical realisation of the industry’s potential
  1. In order to continue to stimulate innovation, sustainable digitalisation must be in harmony with the performance and competitiveness of Germany as a digital location. To this end, the characteristics and business models of digital infrastructures must be taken into account in the development of future measures.
  2. Instead of focusing solely on national planned legislation and certification approaches in the field of energy efficiency, policymakers must operate at the European level and in close cooperation with the industry sector.
  3. Waste heat from data centres represents a valuable CO2-free and therefore a climate-friendly energy resource. However, there are currently too few opportunities to supply waste heat to local or district heating networks on a large scale. Solutions could include purchase obligations for heat network operators or the integration of requirements for waste heat delivery with municipal heat planning.
  4. Policymakers must continue to build on fundamental and applied research on sustainable energy efficiency improvements for existing and future digital infrastructures. The development and use of natural, largely climate-neutral refrigerants for data centres also requires further support.
  5. The excessive efficiency requirements in the new German Energy Efficiency Act, involving a PUE value of 1.2 or more, overestimate the capabilities of currently available cooling technologies that do not rely on significant water consumption. Moreover, this also hinders the use of (less efficient) natural refrigerants. Regulation must align with current technical possibilities and must not overburden the data centre industry.