Frankfurt / Offenbach (dpa / lhe) – With the closure of shops, schools, offices and cinemas, the corona pandemic gave digitalization a powerful boost. Even more films are being viewed on the Internet, products are being ordered online and conferences are being held by video. In order to be able to provide such services, the providers rent capacity in large data centers. A nationwide focus for this is in Frankfurt and the surrounding area. The growth of the industry can be followed here with the naked eye.
The Main metropolis was German internet capital even before the pandemic. Because it houses one of the largest internet nodes in the world called DE-CIX, which links the services of different providers. Since physical proximity to him promises fast data forwarding, a particularly large number of data centers have emerged around his various locations in Frankfurt, especially in the east of the city.
In total, Frankfurt has more than 60 company-independent data centers operated by more than 30 operators, and more are being planned or are currently being built. It is one of the largest locations in Europe, explains the city.
The demand is unchecked, as the spokesman for the planning department, Mark Gellert, says. The city welcomes this, but wants to control the development, limit uncontrolled growth and prevent less financially strong businesses from being displaced. In the future, the centers should only be concentrated in clusters and invest in energy efficiency. Last but not least, the centers should be built less wide than high and provided with facades to prevent unsightly blocks from being built.
A handsome, even listed IT housing will soon be rebuilt in the east of Frankfurt, at the former headquarters of the mail order company Neckermann. The operator Interxion wants to invest more than one billion euros there. The agreement with the monument protection authorities was announced just a few days ago. The city’s largest data center to date is to be built, and the area should be ready by 2028.
The boom rubs off on neighboring municipalities such as Offenbach, which is located in the east of Frankfurt and therefore close to the Internet hub. The city already has five independent commercial data centers, with three more being planned. “Data centers increase Offenbach’s attractiveness for companies, because they ensure that digital services are quickly and reliably available to companies in Offenbach at all times,” says city spokesman Fabian El Cheikh.
But the development also provokes criticism. The centers would require a lot of space and create relatively few jobs. Above all, the immense energy consumption catches the eye, the Frankfurt network is currently being specially expanded. For the current year, it is estimated that the centers could consume almost twice as much electricity as all households in the city combined in 2018. The Offenbach city spokesman also admits that data centers need a lot of electricity and generate a lot of waste heat. He assumes, however, that newer generation systems are more efficient.
With a view to achieving its own climate protection goals, Frankfurt sees the industry’s increasing electricity consumption as a major challenge. The planning department refers to approaches such as a residential area in the Gallusviertel, which is supposed to use the waste heat from a data center as an energy source. The same thing happens with offices in a bank tower in the city center and has also been agreed for the project on the Neckermann site. At the same time, the magistrate recently stated: “The technology is becoming more efficient and more energy-saving, but demand is growing faster than technical progress.” The city government called for the industry to find ways to save energy.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210211-99-391341 / 3
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