Germany's data centers could double their water use by 2030

The key numbers

The Öko-Institut analyzed data from Germany's national data center register. Here's what it found:

• 13 billion liters of cooling water in 2025, roughly the volume of Berlin's Wannsee lake.
• Up to 27 billion liters a year by 2030, as the study expects IT power use in data centers to grow from 19 to at least 55 terawatt hours.
• 0.67 liters per kilowatt hour of IT power is the weighted average, ranging from 0.35 to 1.07 liters depending on facility size.
• Around 30 large projects of 100 megawatts to more than a gigawatt are planned in Germany. A single 100 MW site can use 200 to 930 million liters a year, depending on its cooling.

Patchy data

Of an estimated 1,200 data centers required to report, only 484 operators submitted figures, and just 139 data sets were plausible enough to use. So the totals are an extrapolation from a narrow base. Germany's digital industry association Bitkom pushes back, saying about two thirds of facilities use no more than 0.1 liters per kilowatt of connected capacity and that significant consumption mainly comes from evaporative cooling.

Efficiency isn't the same as saving water

One finding stands out: energy-efficient data centers are not automatically water-efficient; the authors found no statistical link. With dry or compression cooling, direct water use can even drop to zero. Greenpeace is calling for water impact checks before permits, no water-intensive sites in dry regions and penalties for operators who ignore reporting rules.