ÖVP claims data centre plans advanced as energy firm rejects link

A possible data centre in Nickelsdorf sparked renewed debate on Friday, with the ÖVP claiming that plans were already well advanced. Burgenland Energie told ORF Burgenland that a potential data centre was not the reason for the specific battery storage facility planned in Neusiedl and Weiden.

The ÖVP pointed to a public notice for the energy storage facility in Neusiedl am See, which states that the battery could later also serve a “projected data centre”. State party chairman Christoph Zarits said the plans were “much further advanced” than Governor Hans Peter Doskozil of the SPÖ had indicated. He called for transparency and information about the project’s current status.

Burgenland Energie said the region’s largest wind farm project, in Neusiedl and Weiden, began operating at the start of the year. It is currently being expanded with an agrivoltaic facility and is to be supplemented by a battery storage system.

The resulting “super hybrid park” is intended to support security of supply, the company said. A potential data centre was therefore not the reason for constructing the specific battery storage facility in Neusiedl and Weiden.

Doskozil said several days ago that the data centre would not go ahead if its expected water consumption was too high.