The leader of Nammo, a Norwegian manufacturer, claims that the nearby data centre’s energy demands are impeding plans to expand production at their largest factory.
A major ammunition manufacturer in Europe has reported facing obstacles in fulfilling the high demand for its products stemming from the conflict in Ukraine. The reason behind this has been attributed to a new TikTok data center, which is monopolizing electricity in the region close to its largest factory. Nammo, which is co-owned by the Norwegian government, had planned to expand its central Norway factory but was impeded by a lack of excess energy caused by the construction of the data center. Morten Brandtzæg, the CEO of Nammo, expressed concern over the impact of prioritizing the storage of cat videos on the company’s future growth prospects in an interview with the Financial Times.
Brandtzæg states that the demand for artillery rounds is 15 times higher than normal, and the munitions industry in Europe needs to invest €2bn in new factories to meet Ukraine’s needs. The country is currently using 6,000 to 7,000 artillery shells per day, and is facing ammunition shortages due to the ongoing war. The European Union is offering a reimbursement program for countries that provide artillery ammunition to Ukraine from a €1bn fund, and an additional €1bn will be spent on increasing ammunition manufacturing capacity across the bloc.
Nammo had plans to expand its largest manufacturing facility, but TikTok’s efforts to improve its image have apparently caused some obstacles. TikTok is currently facing bans in various countries and is fighting a proposed national ban in the US. The UK government, European Commission, and European Parliament have also banned TikTok from staff phones due to concerns about user data being harvested by China’s government. TikTok has admitted that some employees in China could access European user data and had used its app to spy on journalists to track down leaks. However, the company’s CEO claimed in a recent congressional hearing that TikTok is independent from the Chinese government and that Chinese authorities do not have access to its data.
A request for comment has been made to TikTok.
Tech and social media companies operating large data storage centres are currently under scrutiny due to the significant amount of energy required to power and cool the servers that store customers’ data, such as pictures and videos. The European Commission predicts that by 2030, data centres will contribute to 3.2% of electricity demand in the bloc, which is an increase of 18.5% from 2018.
