France is currently navigating a significant wave of interest in its digital infrastructure, with approximately 80 data center projects seeking to connect to the national power grid. This surge, which includes plans for what is being billed as the largest data center project in Europe, has sparked intense local opposition across the country. The most prominent example is the “Campus IA” project in the village of Fouju, located in the Seine-et-Marne département. This €50 billion venture, supported by an Emirati investment fund known as MGX, Bpifrance, Mistral AI, and Nvidia, is slated for a 90-hectare site in a rural area. Plans for the facility include an 11-building complex that, at full capacity, would require 1.4 gigawatts of power—a demand comparable to the output of a large nuclear reactor.
Resistance to the Fouju development is significant, with a petition against the project signed by nearly 70,000 individuals by late September. Critics cite concerns over the site’s massive electricity consumption, the loss of farmland, and potential pollution affecting water, air, and local health. According to reports, opponents are preparing to initiate two legal challenges targeting the environmental studies and the local planning rule changes implemented specifically for the project. While the Fouju site is the largest, it represents a broader trend. By May 2026, the national grid operator, RTE (Réseau de Transport d'Électricité), reported that it had reserved nearly 18 gigawatts of capacity for data center projects, a sharp increase from the 5 gigawatts associated with roughly 40 projects at the end of 2024.
RTE officials clarify that reserving grid capacity is a preliminary step and does not guarantee that every project will proceed. Nevertheless, the potential addition to France’s existing network of 300 data centers—which currently consume about 10 terawatt-hours of electricity a year, or 2 percent of national consumption—is substantial. Forecasts suggest this consumption could rise to between 23 and 28 terawatt-hours by 2035, amounting to approximately 4 percent of national demand. The geographic focus for these projects remains largely in the Paris region and Hauts-de-France, the country's former industrial heartland.
Major investments are driving this expansion, including a €75 billion commitment from the Japanese tech group SoftBank for 5 gigawatts of AI capacity. The initial phase of this investment, valued at €45 billion, covers three sites in Hauts-de-France—Loon-Plage near Dunkirk, Bosquel, and Bouchain—and is due to be completed by 2031. Meanwhile, Google has proposed a massive campus in the village of Étrechet, covering 195 hectares with eight to ten buildings. This project has become a flashpoint for local discontent, leading to the resignation of three deputy mayors and a councillor on September 10th, followed by the mayor on September 15th, due to claims that local officials had no meaningful influence over the development. A petition against the Étrechet project by the collective "Ozans dire non" had garnered almost 20,000 signatures by late September 2026.
Despite the backlash, the French government maintains that these data centers are essential for national digital sovereignty. Junior minister for AI and digital affairs, Anne Le Hénanff, has labeled the construction of these facilities a priority. President Emmanuel Macron reportedly included the Étrechet site in a list of 150 “strategic industrial projects” before Google confirmed its plans. Supporters, such as Châteauroux mayor Gil Avérous, view the investment as a historic opportunity for job creation, estimating it will create nearly 1,000 direct and indirect jobs. Similarly, developer Data4 has presented its proposed €5 billion campus at Escaudain in the Nord as a way to help regenerate a historic industrial region.
While there is no centralized body to approve these projects, each must secure a grid connection, planning permission, and environmental authorization. Projects deemed of “major national interest,” such as the one in Fouju, benefit from fast-track procedures that allow the state to bypass certain local regulations, though these are now facing judicial scrutiny that could delay development for a year or more. A public consultation on the Google project near Châteauroux is scheduled to open this autumn, with details available on the website of France's public debate commission, the CNDP.
