France's Edf Identifies Land for Data Centres

France's EDF identifies land for data centres

PARIS (Reuters) -France's EDF said on Monday it had identified four sites on its own land for data centres, as the state-owned utility seeks to speed up investments in the power-hungry infrastructure.

EDF's statement came as France hosts a summit on artificial intelligence (AI) with political and business leaders discussing issues around the nascent technology.

France is a major producer of nuclear power, which it is promoting as a reliable and clean source of energy for data centres.

EDF said the four sites identified had available grid connections with total available power estimated at 2 gigawatts (GW). It is searching for two additional sites, it also said.

"For digital companies who wish to do so, EDF will also offer personalized support for the end-to-end completion of the necessary steps to develop their project," EDF said.

An EDF executive said last year that the utility is in talks with three companies to power their 1 gigawatt (GW) data centre projects in France, but cautioned that grid connections could slow down the start of projects.

(Reporting by Forrest CrellinEditing by Tomasz Janowski)