Bachelor's Thesis · CTU in Prague · 2026

Living Along Data Centers:
Investments in AI and Their Impact on Local Communities

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Data Centers in Numbers

~3,500
Data centers across 45 European countries
18–22%
Share of Ireland's national electricity consumed by data centers
17.7%
Data center capacity growth rate in 2025, second highest on record
€200B
EU's announced investment target in AI infrastructure
35
European countries included in this analysis

Dataset Overview

Variables Used in This Analysis

The analysis draws on data from Eurostat, the Data Center Map, and prior studies on European energy markets. The following variables form the core of the empirical work.

Variable Code Role Source
Data Centers per Million Inhabitants DC_CAPITA Dependent / proxy Data Center Map
Data Center % of National Energy Consumption DC_SHARE Independent JRC report (Kamiya & Bertoldi, 2024) + constructed
Household Electricity Prices (€/kWh) HH_E_P Independent Eurostat nrg_pc_204
Non-Household Electricity Prices (€/kWh) NON-HH_E_P Independent Eurostat nrg_pc_204
GDP per Capita GDP_PC Control variable Eurostat nama_10_pc
ICT Gross Value Added ICT_GVA Independent Eurostat isoc_bde15ag
ICT Employment Share (%) ICT_EMP Independent Eurostat isoc_bde15ap
ICT R&D Spending (BERD) ICT_RnD Independent Eurostat isoc_bde15ar2

Report Structure

What's in This Report

01

Hypotheses

Seven formal hypotheses across two categories — energy price impacts (H0–H3) and ICT sector effects (H4–H6) — with their theoretical motivation and expected direction.
02

Explore Data

An interactive choropleth map of Europe. Select any variable from the dropdown to see how it is distributed across countries. Hover a country for its value.
03

Results

Full results of the OLS regression and Spearman's rank correlation analysis — before and after IQR outlier removal — with significance indicators and interpretation.