AWS Spain Data Centers to Outweigh Regional Electricity Use

Aragon's Amazon (AWS) data centers set to consume more power than entire Spanish region

The energy impact of Amazon’s mega-projects in Aragon has sparked a clash of figures and opposing viewpoints. According to Red Eléctrica data (2023-2025), the current annual consumption of the entire autonomous community ranges between 9,679 and 10,659 GWh. The projection for AWS data centers, once all phases are operational, exceeds 10,800 GWh per year. In other words: Amazon alone will consume more electricity than all households, industry, services, and agriculture in Aragon combined.

The approaching energy monster
The tech giant plans a massive deployment in the region, involving several buildings and expansions. In municipalities like Villanueva de Gállego, the complex will cover an area larger than the town itself, and water consumption will quintuple. Although AWS claims that air cooling reduces water usage to 0.03% of industrial demand in the Ebro Hydrographic Basin, and Microsoft, also present, will use direct-to-chip liquid cooling without water consumption, the debate focuses on the true cost: either water is spent or electricity is consumed, and in both cases, the impact is colossal.

Comparison with other heavy industries is inevitable. A forum user noted that 10,000 GWh is what a large nuclear plant generates running at full capacity for 365 days a year. The question is whether Aragon’s electrical infrastructure – and the national grid – is prepared to support this demand without citizens ending up paying the bill.

More noise than nuts: employment and productive fabric
One of the most contentious points is job creation. While project defenders speak of tax revenue and economic activity, critics argue that data centers generate few direct jobs: a handful of on-call engineers, security, and cleaning staff, plus outsourced remote work. It is argued that skilled labor will not be local but imported from countries with lower wages, exacerbating precariousness in a region already suffering from depopulation.

On the optimistic side, some point out that private investment and associated taxes can alleviate the Social Security deficit or finance infrastructure. However, experience with other macro-facilities does not invite optimism: often multinationals negotiate favorable fiscal conditions, and investments in electrical networks end up being passed on to consumer bills. “These companies won’t pay a single euro of the multi-billion dollar electrical investments,” it is warned.

Reality or smoke? Viability under debate
Not all announced projects are firm. According to industry sources, of all the centers planned by AWS, only the one in Castejón (in the finalization phase) seems likely to materialize. The rest would be hype, and Microsoft’s plan is considered unviable within a five-year horizon, among other reasons because the DGA’s (Regional Government of Aragon) infrastructure priorities lie elsewhere. This uncertainty relativizes the alarmism but also sows doubts about the strategy for attracting investment.

In parallel, the ecological paradox resurfaces. The energy transition preached savings and renewables, but now the AI monster is being fed at any cost. The irony is not lost on commentators: while citizens are asked to reduce their consumption, tech companies arrive ready to double it.

Water, light, and concrete: the price of becoming the 'India of Europe'
The underlying discussion is not just technical but concerns the development model. Aragon positions itself as a cheap destination for data centers, with supposedly abundant land, water, and electricity. But the data show that resources are not unlimited. In a context of drought and domestic consumption restrictions, seeing how a private company can quintuple the water expenditure of an entire municipality generates unease.

And then there is physical space: data centers are land devourers. In Villanueva de Gállego, the complex will occupy more surface area than the town itself. Something reminiscent of old car factories, but without the mass employment they used to generate.

With these elements, the debate remains open. Some see in the mega-investment the economic future of the region; others, a mirage that will leave unpaid energy and environmental bills. The only certainty is that if the entire plan is executed, Aragon will become a data exporter, but perhaps at the cost of importing problems.