Data Centres and the Emergence of the Twin Transition Industrial Complex

The EU has called the ‘twin transition’ a win-win strategy for tackling climate change and strengthening its digital autonomy amid geopolitical and geoeconomic tensions. However, high-level policy discourse can hide the material frictions, extractive dynamics, and emerging dependencies associated with implementing this agenda. The paper examines Western Macedonia, a region historically defined by lignite extraction, now transforming into Greece’s post-lignite development hub. Drawing on critical data centre studies and critical political economy scholarship, we trace the emergence of a twin transition industrial complex (TTIC), that is a system of a parallel and interlinked development of renewables and large-scale, often AI-ready data centres. Methodologically, the study combines 12 semi-structured interviews with locals, on-site visits, as well as an analysis of relevant policy and corporate communication documents. We discern four key findings: A) Western Macedonia is transformed into a hub for renewable energy and data centres, which will help Greece integrate into the global AI value chain. B) However, this shift is causing the displacement of locals, especially young people, and creating a ‘limbo’ situation that will lead to social and ecological exhaustion. C) The green transition is also creating ‘green enclosures’ and transforming the landscape by converting land, including historically publicly funded PPC land, into assets for a more exclusionary and extractive digital transformation. D) Despite official narratives portraying Western Macedonia as a ‘Greek Silicon Valley’, locals are excluded from decision-making and governance processes, leading to disillusionment and a sense of hopelessness for the future. Our main contribution is the outlining of an emerging twin transition industrial complex, wherein the twin transition and digital transformation are planned and materialised by state and (Big Tech) capitalist actors according to the imperatives of the AI industry’s global value chains at the expense of local communities and ecosystems.