BRUSSELS, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Long delays to get power

grid connections are challenging Amazon's ( AMZN ) plans to

expand data centers in Europe, the company told Reuters, as

industries ramp up pressure on policymakers to upgrade ageing

energy grids.

Energy-intensive industries have urged the European Union to

invest more in grids, warning that a fast connection to stable,

reliable power ‌networks is a key criteria for investments in new

industrial sites in Europe.

Pamela MacDougall, Amazon Web Services' (AWS) head of energy

markets and regulation ​in EMEA, said the timeline for getting a

grid connection had become one of the biggest ‍deciding factors

in the company's data center investments.

Connecting to the transmission network ⁠in Europe can take ⁠up

to seven years - versus the roughly two years it can take to

develop a data center, she said.

In the United States, ‌connection queues average one to three

years, according to ​the International Energy Agency, although

they can sometimes also stretch to seven years.

"And we're finding more and more across Europe that certainty of

the delivery date has ⁠continued to be delayed," she said in an

interview.

The ‍European Commission ​proposed legal changes last year to

cap deadlines for authorities to approve grid permits at a

maximum of two years, and exempt grids projects from

environmental assessments, to speed up the ‍modernisation of

Europe's power networks. EU countries and lawmakers are

negotiating the proposals.

NETWORK CONGESTION

MacDougall said "in many countries" in Europe, Amazon ( AMZN )

had wanted to build infrastructure but missing grid connections

or power network congestion had made the project unfeasible.

"There's a misalignment. We want to expand and grow within

two years," MacDougall said, adding that the delays were

"challenging our growth aspirations".

Italy and Spain are among the countries where ​grid

connections are ‍slowed down by a backlog of so-called

"speculative" projects which applied for connections as a

precaution but will likely not go ahead, electricity industry

association Eurelectric has said.

First-come, first-served rules ​mean other projects cannot

overtake them in the queue.

Another factor is long wait times for permits to upgrade

European power grids. Slashing these deadlines are among the

legal changes proposed by the European Commission.

MacDougall is vice-chair of GIGA, an industry association

launched last month to push policymakers to modernise Europe's

power grids. Other members include energy-hungry tech companies

Meta and Google, and electric vehicle

charging infrastructure firm Fastned.

Amazon ( AMZN ) is building data centers across Europe as it ​expands

its AWS - the world's largest cloud provider, which provides

computing power, data storage and other digital services.

The company does not disclose exactly how many data centers

it has in Europe, but it has existing infrastructure in more

than 20 European countries and ‍is expanding investments in

countries including France, Germany and Spain.