First, the next cabinet must come up with a new vision for spatial planning and data centers, the senate believes. All opposition parties supported a proposal from the Party for the Animals, and the coalition does not have a majority in the Senate.
It is not yet known exactly what this means for the arrival of the data center of Facebook parent company Meta. Outgoing State Secretary Raymond Knops, responsible for Central Government Real Estate, says it is “studying” the motion. It concerns approximately 80 hectares of land, which amounts to more than a hundred football fields.
Central Government Real Estate Company
There is much political discussion about the arrival of a mega center of the parent company of Facebook in Zeewolde. The city council approved the arrival of that center last Thursday evening. But the deal isn’t over yet. Around 80 hectares of the land is owned by the Central Government Real Estate Agency, which falls under the Ministry of the Interior. That conditionally agrees to the sale to Meta.
2.5 million cubic meters of water
Local and national politicians and residents’ groups fear, with Google’s already large anonymous data centers in the top of North Holland, that the cherished farmland and meadows with a scenic appearance will make way for more large anonymous boxes of tech companies. In the coming years, such companies will need more space, due to the expansion of power consumption by companies and consumers.
However, Meta claims to produce very sustainably. Yet it is unclear whether the promise to offer all the residual heat from the servers as heating to the environment can be fulfilled. Such promises about the reuse of residual heat in Zeewolde and Harderwijk previously fell through in Hollands Kroon after the arrival of data giants. Moreover, an enormous amount of cooling, about 2.5 million cubic meters of water, is required. This can be a big drain on what the region has to offer.
Meta, which also keeps data centers for social media WhatsApp and Instagram up and running, has been talking with the municipality since 2019 about the construction of the huge ‘hyperscale data center’, which has 166 hectares in size. This will be the largest data center in Europe.