Russia has raised concerns over the development of a new artificial intelligence data centre in Armenia, warning that plans to expand the facility's capacity could place considerable pressure on the country's electricity system and potentially lead to power shortages.

Aleksey Shevtsov, deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council, questioned the necessity of the Firebird AI data centre in the Armenian city of Hrazdan, which uses Western technology, including processors manufactured by US semiconductor company NVIDIA.

Speaking to reporters, Shevtsov argued that Armenia already possesses sufficient data storage infrastructure to meet its domestic requirements.

“This civilian facility is clearly unnecessary for Armenia's domestic needs, since the OVIO data center, owned by Rostelecom [company of Russia], has been operating in the country since 2024, which fully covers the needs of commercial and state institutions in terms of data storage,” he said.

The Russian official's remarks come amid plans by Firebird AI to substantially expand its computing infrastructure in Armenia, with the company reportedly targeting a capacity of 300 megawatts (MW) at its Hrazdan complex by the end of 2027.

Shevtsov drew attention to the scale of the proposed expansion, comparing its projected electricity requirements with Armenia's overall winter power demand.

According to the Russian official, the planned capacity “is nearly a quarter of the load [i.e. 1.3 GW] on Armenia’s power system during the winter period.”

“Thus, by calculating the announced plans, additional energy capacity will be required [in Armenia] to maintain the [aforesaid] center’s operation,” he added.

Shevtsov further warned that the development of energy-intensive computing facilities could create additional challenges for Armenia's electricity supply.

In his assessment, “amid growing needs, including the strengthening of the data center, Armenia may face a serious electricity deficit, which will inevitably affect [the country’s] ordinary citizens.”

The concerns reflect the substantial electricity requirements associated with large-scale AI computing infrastructure, particularly facilities equipped with high-performance processors used to train and operate artificial intelligence models.

However, the projected 300 MW capacity does not necessarily mean the facility would continuously consume that amount of electricity. Its actual impact on Armenia's power system would depend on operational demand, the pace of expansion, available generation capacity and investments in electricity infrastructure.