Data center lobby says Europe faces AI power trade-off

Europe may need to put AI ambitions ahead of near-term climate goals or risk losing tech sovereignty to China, according to Lex Coors, president of the European Data Centre Association. The group, which lobbies the EU for data center companies, argues that the region’s current energy system cannot reliably power advanced AI data centers.

Coors said the EU may have to rely temporarily on new carbon-emitting gas power plants because other energy options are not ready. He pointed to lagging grid capacity, small modular nuclear reactors that will not arrive in time, and the need for renewable energy storage to catch up. The position leaves policymakers weighing whether gas-fired generation should support AI growth while cleaner infrastructure develops.