Greens seek review of planned Villach data centre

The Greens are calling for a thorough review of a planned data centre in Federaun, near Villach, while the Austrian Economic Chamber says domestic facilities are important to keep data in the country. ORF reported that the German Zech Group plans to build the centre.

The project would occupy a six-hectare plot owned by the city of Villach and zoned for industrial use. The 100-megawatt facility would store, maintain and preserve large volumes of data, mainly for businesses, and include a greenhouse for growing vegetables.

The Greens say too many questions remain unanswered. Their demands include an environmental impact assessment, European operators for the project and an assessment of the effect on network costs. Party state spokesperson Olga Voglauer said the data should belong to people in Carinthia and the European Union.

Carinthia already has smaller data centres, including facilities in Klagenfurt’s Lakeside Park. In Villach, Net4you manages data for 800 customers, ranging from sole traders to large companies. Managing director Martin Zandonella said its services include website and email hosting as well as locally run artificial intelligence applications for customers with sensitive data.

The Alpsix internet exchange point, established this autumn, connects Carinthia directly to international fibre-optic networks and could support more local data centres, according to Marc Gfrerer, an IT spokesperson for the Economic Chamber. He said the connection could enable faster internet and create jobs. The chamber has also launched an Austria-wide atlas showing data centres and where data flows, presenting alternatives to US and Asian providers.

Gfrerer said domestic data centres operating under Austrian laws were important for data protection and digital security, and that organisations should consider where their data is stored and who can access it.