Resistance to Google data center in Kronstorf grows – environmental groups call for moratorium

The project, considered a "Milliarden-Investition des US-Giganten", was originally planned on an area of roughly 50 hectares, which had already been designated about 20 years ago for Google's first site in Austria. According to current plans, the data center is to become roughly two and a half times larger than previously envisaged. This would make the site one of the largest within the Google corporation, according to reports. The opening of the first construction phase is planned for 2027; the decision to start construction was made about a year ago.

Criticism from environmental organizations

Global 2000 criticized that, despite the "enormen Dimensionen" of the project, no environmental impact assessment is planned. The organization is demanding from Achleitner "ein Moratorium, eine strategische Denkpause" and a tightening of legal regulations. Global 2000 also warned that the new applications would mean that "nicht nur der Flächen-, sondern auch der Wasser- und Stromverbrauch noch weiter durch die Decke (ginge)". The WWF described the project as one of the "größten Boden- und Energiefresser-Projekte des Landes".

Even before the new expansion applications, the transmission system operator Austrian Power Grid (APG) had assumed an annual electricity demand equivalent to that of up to 900,000 households – that is, according to statistics, 224,000 private households more than there are in all of Upper Austria. For the continuous discharge of the heat generated during operation, groundwater is to be circulated through the data center and discharged into the adjacent Enns river. According to the provincial approval, up to around 5.8 million liters of water at a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius may be released. According to the approval, the temperature increase in the river is within the legally permissible range.

Citizens' initiative announces protest

Google's information policy was classified as in need of improvement in the report. Asked by ORF, the company merely stated that talks on possible heat utilization were underway but had not yet been concluded. The Greens are also demanding a concrete plan before commissioning that regulates, among other things, who is to build potential heat networks. In addition, the drugstore chain DM is planning a new distribution center on the Google site, which reinforces critics' suspicion of a gradual expansion of the overall project.

The citizens' initiative "Rechenzentrum Kronstorf" launched an online petition on Sunday and is demanding that Achleitner commission an immediate, publicly comprehensible overall review of the entire project complex comprising Google, DM, and associated infrastructure. The initiative accuses the authorities of a "Salami-Taktik" approach, in which the major project is broken down into many small individual parts, and demands that all political support be halted until an "ehrliche Gesamtprüfung" has taken place. The initiative announced a rally for the coming Friday under the motto "Digitalisierung braucht Demokratie!".

Open questions on energy and water use

As the reporting makes clear, "etliche Fragen offen". In particular, it remains unclear how the high electricity and water consumption will affect the region and to what extent the waste heat will actually be used in the future. The planned expansion could further intensify resistance, especially since critics point to a significant growth in the project's size. The host municipality of Kronstorf and the district administration of Linz-Land must now decide on the additional applications, while pressure from the public and environmental organizations mounts.

Overall, it is evident that the Google data center in Kronstorf extends far beyond a classic economic-location debate. It connects issues of energy and water supply, municipal participation, and transparency in large-scale investments. If it is actually implemented at the planned scale, it would be one of the largest investment projects in Upper Austria and a central node in the country's data infrastructure. The outcome of the ongoing proceedings, as well as the further mobilization of opponents, is therefore likely to attract attention beyond regional significance.