What do we actually know about the possible forthcoming data centre near Rødbyhavn, which is occupying the municipality, major developers and this scribbler alike?
Fundamentally, we know surprisingly little, given the scale of the project. We know that Stender Innovation will be responsible for bringing the centre into existence. We have a rough idea of how much electricity it will draw from the grid if the 960 MW figure proves correct. And we know that it is expected to generate around 400 jobs.
That is a start, of course, but it is not a great deal.
Most importantly, we still have no idea who will ultimately be behind the data centre. According to Stender, it is one of the industry's major operators, which is also planning several large data centres. Given its size, I would put my money on one of the industry's real heavyweights: Google, Meta or Microsoft – something along those lines.
The name is protected by a confidentiality agreement and will only be disclosed when there is greater certainty that the project will actually come to fruition.
But perhaps there is, in fact, a local connection running through the whole story. European Energy co-founder Knud Erik Andersen is originally from the Rødby area, and the company already has power agreements with Microsoft. With that in mind, it is natural to wonder whether he may have helped point someone in the direction of his home area.
However, we do not know anything about that, and I have no information that either he, Microsoft or European Energy is involved.
But the name of the person and company behind the data centre does matter in this context, because, as in any Olsen Gang film, it is good to know which big mastermind we are dealing with. It would also be very much in the public interest, and in the interest of local residents, to know whether we are to have Zuckerberg, Gates or an entirely different billionaire spreading out across a vast area in our own backyard.
With a name, we can also take a closer look at how the company has behaved elsewhere and what has happened to the other local areas the company has entered. Have local suppliers been given a share of the work? And what do the municipalities that have already welcomed the mastermind have to say about the collaboration?
We can all count buildings and welcome the prospect of several hundred jobs. But it is also worth taking an interest in who will move in, what plans they have, and what we in this area can expect from them.
Because the more hopes we pin on the data centre, the more pertinent it is to ask who is to fulfil them, and how much has already been agreed.
