OVHcloud (OVH.PA), the largest domestic cloud services provider in France, is preparing for probable power outages later in the year by setting up diesel generators, according to its chief executive on Monday.
In the wake of the conflict in Ukraine, Europe is working to reduce its reliance on Russian gas in advance of the upcoming winter. Despite the fact that France depends less on Russian supplies than its neighbours, the government has cautioned businesses that they may experience power rationing and advised them to reduce use.
The French government views OVHcloud as essential infrastructure, making it mostly immune to possible power outages. After revealing a new data centre in the city of Strasbourg in the northeast, CEO Michel Paulin told reporters that the company is still preparing for the worst.
Paulin stated that OVHcloud tests its diesel generators every month to every two months but cautioned that the company would not be able to use such a backup energy source for too long.
We’ve filled our tanks, but these systems aren’t intended to operate for days on end, he added.
The list of crucial industries and sectors that shouldn’t experience any power outages is being compiled by the French finance ministry.
An official from the finance ministry stated, “We have taken various steps, but it depends on the severity of the winter,” adding that telecoms and cloud service providers were seen as essential to keeping France running.
According to a forecast by the European Commission, the energy consumption of the cloud services sector might be as high as 4% of the total consumption of energy in the EU by 2030, and it is expected to increase by about a third.
Given that the company, which went public 1-and-a-half years ago, competes with American tech behemoths like Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google, which dominates data storage globally, the continuation of OVHcloud’s power-hungry services is even more crucial for its business and reputation.
Four of OVHcloud’s data centres in Strasbourg were destroyed by a significant fire that occurred last year.
As a result of worries that the U.S. government may be able to access data stored on the computers of the large corporations situated there as a result of the adoption of the U.S., Paris is eager to create capacity to store sensitive data in France. 2018’s Cloud Act
The launching of the data centre in Strasbourg was also attended by Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. OVH positions itself as a safe, domestic option to its major competitors.
Le Maire declared, “If we want to be sovereign, our data cannot be taken.
Yet OVH is minuscule in comparison to the well-known American businesses. It made sales of 202 million euros ($205 million) in the quarter that ended on May 31 as opposed to Amazon’s cloud services division making close to $20 billion in sales in the three months that concluded in June.
