Why Schwarz Group is investing another 5,6 billion euros in data centres

Schwarz continues to pour astronomical sums into AI and cloud technologies. The parent company of Lidl and Kaufland is putting another 5,6 billion euros on the table.

As explained at a press conference, work will soon begin on the new Rostock data centre, in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (northern Germany): it will provide jobs for 120 people in phase one.

Already under construction in 2027: 1 gigawatts in 2045

The construction site will be operational in 2027, according to the plan outlined by the CEO of Schwarz, Gerd Chrzanowski.

The large-scale technology hub is initially intended, by 2033, to develop a capacity of 240 megawatts – equivalent to the energy consumption of 600.000 households –, before rising to 1 gigawatts in 2045.

The data centre will rely exclusively on renewable energy during its daily, normal operations. It will be equipped with a water-cooling system to drastically reduce water consumption.

The residual heat will not go to waste: the German giant is currently in talks with the local municipality and various utilities to apply to become a supplier to local residents.

Schwarz Group: protecting itself from dependence

In this case, however, Schwarz Group does not intend to sell cloud and technology services to third parties, but to build up its own pool of resources to protect itself from foreign competition, particularly from the United States, especially with regard to cybersecurity.

Manuela Schwesig Manuela Schwesig (SPD, the Social Democratic Party), a member of the Bundesrat and Minister-President of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: “We have already fallen behind when it came to social media platforms. Now we do not want to lose our independence in this area.”

“The state government’s aim,” the Minister-President reiterates, “is not to be at the mercy of foreign providers of data centres, cloud applications and AI. We see Schwarz Group’s investment decision as an opportunity for greater autonomy and greater data security. Our state will benefit from this operation in many ways.”

StackIT reaches the European Commission

Schwarz Digits, the company’s IT and digital division, and StackIT, the group’s cloud division, are the two components of the project, which adds to even more ambitious ones, such as the one involving 11 billion under way in Lübbenau (Brandenburg), which will be inaugurated by the end of 2027.

StackIT, moreover, has already been selected as one of the main providers of remote services and ICT services in general by the European Commission which allocated, at the beginning of the year, an amount of 180 million euros for this item.

The very few people who still believe that Schwarz is merely synonymous with consumer goods are mistaken, although retail remains its core business, with revenue 2025 of approximately 177 billion euros (140,2 for Lidl and 36,7 for Kaufland) out of a consolidated total of 185,6 billion euros.

This article was translated from the original Italian version with the assistance of artificial intelligence. In case of discrepancies, please refer to the original Italian version.