Google to rework Chile data center plans due to environmental concerns: report
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Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) will rework from scratch its plans to build a $200M data center in Santiago, Chile, Reuters reported on Tuesday, after concerns were raised about the project’s environmental impact on the Chilean capital.
The U.S. tech giant informed Chile’s environmental regulator that “it will not continue with the process of requesting permits for the project to install a data center in the Cerrillos neighborhood, as originally submitted and approved in 2020,” the report said.
“In due course, a new process will begin from scratch for a project that will use air-cooled technology at this very location,” Google reportedly said.
The report said Google received initial approval for the data center in early 2020, but the project has since drawn an outcry from residents and local officials over the possible impact on the capital’s parched aquifer. In February, a local environmental court partially reversed the 2020 permit, asking the company to revise its application to take into account the effects of climate change.