Google has broken ground on a new data center in the Netherlands.
The search, advertising, and cloud company also recently gained a permit for another data center in the Dalles in Oregon.
Google breaks ground in Groningen
After quietly starting works last month, local press report that Google has officially begun work on a new data center in Winschoten, Groningen in the north of the country.
Marco Ynema, data center lead in the Netherlands at Google, told Dutch IT Channel: "People are increasingly using digital tools, and organizations and governments in the Netherlands are switching to the cloud. Google's commitment to the Netherlands is unprecedented and the start of construction of a new location in Winschoten today proves that. We are proud to have called the Netherlands our home for many years and look forward to many more years to come.”
The company will reportedly invest €600 million ($655.1m) into the new development, located at Hoogebrug 3.
The site will make the waste heat it produces available for any future district heating networks, and feature solar panels on the roof.
The facility has been described by the company as a satellite to its existing Eemshaven site. Specifications and timelines for development weren’t shared.
The tech giant bought the last plot at the Hoogebrug Winschoten business park in the municipality of Oldambt in July 2021.
Google currently has two data centers in the Netherlands: Eemshaven, which opened in 2018, and in Middenmeer, which opened in 2020. The company has also bought land at the Westpoort industrial estate located west of Hoogkerk, in the municipality of Groningen.
Another data center project proposed in Appingedam, in the municipality of Eemsdelta, was reportedly paused by the government hyperscale moratorium. An unnamed developer - heavily suggested to be Google by local press - aimed to build two 54,000 sqm facilities offering 200MW across 20 hectares in the Fivelpoort business park.
Google building more data centers in Oregon
In the US, Google recently received a permit for a new data centers in the Dalles, Oregon.
As reported by Columbia Gorge News and CCC News, the facility will be the company’s fifth in the area, and the second of two to be built at 3500 River Road on a former aluminum plant site. According to a notice filed in November, the single-story facility will span 290,000 sq ft (26,940 sqm).
Google opened its first data center at the Dalles, to the east of Portland in Wasco County, in 2006. The company acquired a 74-acre plot of land belonging to Northwest Aluminum in 2016.
