France’s bid to become a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) is facing potential setbacks due to delays in connecting power-hungry data centres to the national electricity grid. Despite boasting abundant nuclear energy—critical to attracting AI investments—the time it takes to establish the necessary infrastructure could slow down the country’s growth in the sector.
Macron’s Vision and Investments:
In a recent AI summit, French President Emmanuel Macron highlighted the country’s reliance on clean and reliable nuclear power as a key asset for AI development. With over 100 billion euros ($103.26 billion) in AI investment pledges, France is positioning itself as a major player in Europe’s race to catch up with the U.S. The pledge includes a $10 billion supercomputer facility by UK-based Fluidstack, which will require 1 gigawatt (GW) of power—equivalent to the output of one of France’s smaller nuclear reactors.
Brookfield, a global asset manager, also committed to spending 20 billion euros to develop AI infrastructure, including data centres. With 57 nuclear reactors, France produces over two-thirds of its electricity from nuclear power, and last year, it exported a record amount of energy, mostly to Italy.
Grid Connection Bottleneck:
The challenge lies not in generating the electricity but in connecting it to the data centres. France’s energy grid, though robust, may struggle to keep up with the surge in demand that AI data centres will bring. Experts warn that, while building data centres can be completed in under a year, constructing the necessary transmission lines to supply them with power could take up to five years.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, highlighted the issue at the AI summit, noting that countries with sustainable and affordable electricity supplies have a competitive edge. However, the slow pace of building the required transmission infrastructure presents a bottleneck for France’s ambitious plans.
Efforts to Expedite Construction:
Construction and permitting procedures in Europe are notably slower than in the U.S., as Anj Midha, a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, pointed out. In response, state-owned utility EDF has identified four sites for data centres on its land, with existing grid connections and 2 GW of power already available. These sites are expected to reduce project timelines by several years, but challenges remain.
EDF is also in talks with companies to power additional 1 GW data centre projects, though the completion of these sites may still be delayed by the need for public consultation and the high costs associated with constructing new high-voltage power lines.
