Community-Centered Data Centers

ELECTRA Energy

On the one hand, the energy transition in the EU must accelerate to meet the net-zero goals by 2050, driving a fundamental shift toward renewable generation, electrification, storage, and smart grids.  On the other hand, the digital transition is advancing at remarkable speed, relying on a rapidly growing network of data centers that are essential for cloud computing, AI, and digital services - but also among the most energy-intensive infrastructures in the modern economy. These facilities, while vital to innovation and growth, are also heavy energy consumers.

The energy transition needs data, and the digital transition needs energy.

The crucial question now is how to align the two transitions, turning data centers from energy and grid challenges into drivers of local, sustainable progress. As Europe races toward decarbonization and digitalization, the Moderator Project explores this intersection, investigating how immersion cooling technologies and waste-heat recovery in data centers can reduce their footprint while creating new value for local communities.

In Electra Energy, we believe that citizen participation is not a secondary concern but a core success factor for a just and effective energy transition. When communities, municipalities, and small enterprises are involved from the start, projects advance faster, achieve broader acceptance, and generate far greater value for local economies. In fact, studies show that community renewable projects can benefit local economies between two and eight times more than purely private ones. You can find more relevant facts and guidelines in our recent publication, Guide for Co-Creation of Renewable Energy Projects (Electra Energy, The Green Tank & Climate Action Network Europe, 2025).

Under EU law, Renewable Energy Communities (RECs) and Citizen Energy Communities (CECs) are legal entities that enable open, voluntary participation, local control, and social benefit over profit. These communities are already reshaping Europe’s energy landscape by producing renewable electricity, managing storage, providing energy renovation, coordinating demand response, and other services. In the Moderator Project, Electra examines, among others, how Energy Communities can become active partners in managing the thermal and electrical exchanges around data centers. Immersion cooling technology in Data Centers reduces both energy consumption and water use, while capturing high-quality waste heat that can be reused in local networks. By embedding these systems within the framework of Energy Communities, waste heat becomes a shared local resource.

For example, through long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), Energy Communities can establish mutually beneficial partnerships with data centers. These agreements allow communities to supply renewable electricity at stable and fair prices, providing data centers with predictable energy costs while creating reliable revenue streams that help finance other renewable energy projects. This ensures, at the same time, that economic value remains within local regions, supporting jobs and community development. At the same time, the heat recovered from immersion-cooled data centers can be redirected to warm homes, schools, municipal facilities, or greenhouses, transforming what was once wasted energy into a valuable local resource. This approach could redefine data centers from isolated, energy-intensive facilities into circular, community assets, fostering both sustainability and social inclusion.

For these ideas to move from research to reality, supportive frameworks and pilot actions are essential. Europe needs clearer regulations to facilitate the integration of waste heat into local energy networks and financial tools that make it easier for communities to participate in cooperative energy-digital schemes.

Above all, it is essential to recognize that placing people and communities at the heart of technological innovation is the only way to ensure that progress in energy and digitalization leads to real social, environmental, and economic benefits.

By linking Energy Communities with immersion-cooled, heat-recycling data centers, Europe can make one step more towards a truly circular and participatory infrastructure.