After the earlier data center in Eemshaven and the started construction in Winschoten, a third data center is coming to Groningen. With an investment of €600 million, the site at the Westpoort business park will further support businesses and consumers.
In announcing the new data center, Google points to the move by Dutch organizations and the government to the cloud. To meet that demand, the U.S. tech company plans to further invest in digital infrastructure that helps increase access to information.
Combined with previous investments in data centers and related infrastructure, Google’s total investment now stands at €3.8 billion. In addition to Eemshaven, there is an operational data center in Middenmeer. Work on the data center in Winschoten has been underway since December 2023.
It is unknown exactly how the data center in Westpoort will work technically. However, Marco Ynema, Data Center Lead in the Netherlands, clarifies that the new location will have plenty to offer. He ensures it will allow Google to meet the growing demand for AI and cloud services and provide crucial computing capacity to companies.
He said the new facility would create 125 direct jobs, including Google data center employees, temporary workers, full-time suppliers, and contractors.
Impact
At the same time, Google is keen to emphasize that sustainability is being considered at the Westpoort data center. After all, society has concerns about data centers’ energy consumption. Therefore, earlier this year, Google partnered with Eneco and Shell to obtain 90 per cent of its energy from sustainable sources. In addition, the Westerpoort facility will be equipped for off-site heat recovery, capturing heat from the data center.
The first servers are scheduled to be operational next year.
Tip: Google Cloud uses 19.38 billion liters of drinking water, water neutral by 2030