German technology firm LEW TelNet is building a new data center in Augsburg.

The telecoms company announced last week that it plans to invest €30 million ($32m) building a new ‘green data center’ in the Bavarian city.

Located on Oskar-von-Miller-Strasse, the LEW Green Data Center will be built across two phases, comprising four data center modules totaling 1,900 sqm (20,450 sq ft) with capacity for around 600 racks and 2MW of power.

Construction is due to begin over the summer and the first phase is set to go live in mid-2024.

The facility will reportedly be powered by regional hydropower from parent company LEW, features a rooftop and ground photovoltaic system totaling 2.5MWp, and will include air-to-air heat exchangers, UPS systems with kinetic energy storage in lieu of batteries, and a waste heat recovery system. The facility will operate with a PUE of 1.2.

"Green, decentralized, digital - that is our vision for the energy system of the future. The LEW Green Data Center combines these aspects in an exemplary overall concept that opens up the potential of digitization and sustainable energy," said LEW board member Dietrich Gemmel. "The conversion of the energy system and the reduction of CO2 emissions is a task that affects all areas - the concept of the LEW Green Data Center is an important component here, which we are implementing with our know-how and with high investments here in the region."

LEW TelNet is part of German regional utility company Lechwerke AG (LEW), which itself is majority-owned by E.ON subsidiary Innogy. The LEW Group operates the electricity distribution network in the region and 36 hydroelectric power plants.

LEW TelNet, which owns and operates a 5,800-kilometer fiber optic network in south-west Bavaria, will host its own operations in the new building as well as offering services to customers.

“With the new LEW Green Data Center, we are putting our vision of a green data center in the region into practice - without making any compromises in terms of availability, security, or service," added Jörg Steins, managing director of LEW TelNet. “We want to offer a convincing and sustainable complete solution. With us, our customers get their data center and site networking from a single source and can rest assured that the high requirements for data security, high availability, and the implementation of legal requirements are met. In addition, the use of the LEW Green Data Center helps our customers to achieve their own climate protection goals.”

In 2021, E.On founded a new subsidiary to build cell towers across Germany. The company also has another German telecommunications subsidiary, e.discom.

E.On isn't the only company entering the German data center space. In Frankfurt, energy firm Mainova is building a 30MW data center to offer under a new colocation brand. Lidl's parent company has also launched a cloud company based out of the group's own data centers.