Because of electricity: Swiss data center boss wants to move capacity abroad

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Thomas Schulthess, head of the National Center for High Performance Computing (CSCS), said in an interview with “SonntagsZeitung” that Switzerland should concentrate local resources on innovative pilot projects. According to Schulthess, Northern Europe is ideal for outsourcing local computing capacity: “Finland, Norway and Sweden have large hydropower reserves far from cities that have already been established and are used to power mines or paper mills. “Switzerland should help make the electrical infrastructure in Northern Europe more usable for scientific calculations.”

Schulthess said that a consortium called “Lumi” (Greater Unified Modern Infrastructure) has already been established with Finland, which includes ten countries. Under his leadership, a data center was built in a former Finnish paper mill. «The location is perfect and affordable. “The factory building and related electricity generation and cooling infrastructure were already in place,” said CSCS’s boss. “Projects like this need to increase. “But since Switzerland’s withdrawal from framework agreement negotiations with the EU, the EU-controlled Lumi umbrella organization has been harassing us and we can no longer fully participate.”

Schulthess said that such an expansion of Switzerland’s computing capacity is necessary due to the increasing demand for electricity: “It is not only artificial intelligence and high-performance computers that need large amounts of electricity, but also mobility, which must increasingly transition from combustion engines to electric engines.” “This means for us as a society: We must think about how we can solve the problems created by the increasing demand for electricity.” (SDA)

Source :Blick