Massive new data centre to be built in Germany by Lidl parent firm

Lidl's parent company, the Schwarz Group, announced plans on Monday to build a new data centre in Germany at a cost of €11 billion, drawing praise from the government as it seeks to boost Germany's artificial intelligence (AI) credentials, reported dpa.

The construction project represents the largest single investment in the firm's history, said Christian Müller, the co-chief executive of the firm's digital subsidiary Schwarz Digits.

Müller attended the groundbreaking ceremony on the construction site in Lübbenau, south of Berlin.

The first construction phase of the data centre is scheduled for completion by the end of 2027. According to the company, the centre will be powered by renewable energy during normal operation.

Billions on AI infrastructure

Some €2.5 billion is set to go towards construction, and the remainder will be spent on the IT infrastructure. There will be no government funding, the firm said.

The data centre is designed to house some 100,000 specialist AI chips. By comparison, a new data centre being built by Deutsche Telekom and Nvidia in Munich will have 10,000 chips.

The special chips will be used to train large models and sift huge data sets using AI.

According to the plans, the waste heat generated by the computers will be fed into the district heating network of the regional energy supplier Süll and distributed to district heating customers in Lübbenau and the surrounding area.

Boost for national computing capacity

Germany's Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger said that the country needs more computing power: "Only with powerful data centres can we use AI applications on a large scale and strengthen our competitiveness," he said.

The project by the Schwarz Group shows that Germany has the skills and expertise to advance its digital sovereignty, he said.

"Today is a good start to a week in which we will focus on strengthening our own technological capabilities and our independence," he said, referring to a visit on Tuesday by French President Emmanuel Macron and digital ministers from across Europe.

Major IT player

As the parent company of Lidl and the Kaufland chain, the Schwarz Group is itself a major IT user.

The two supermarket chains have steadily expanded their network in recent years. They now operate a total of around 14,200 stores in 32 countries. The group now employs around 595,000 people.

The new data centre in Lübbenau will not only process its own data from delivery and ordering processes, payment transactions and customer loyalty programmes. It will also offer storage and computing power to external customers.