Microsoft wants to double the size of the data center complex in North Holland
Microsoft wants to significantly expand its data center complex in Middenmeer in North Holland. The manufacturer wants to start the second phase of the development of the complex, in which the construction of the parts AMS07 and AMS08 will take place. The municipality agrees in principle.
The municipality of Hollands Kroon plans to grant the permit for the expansion, although it is a design decision and there is no final green light yet. Microsoft submitted its permit application for the construction of new buildings at Agriport in Middenmeer in December, and the plans have now been put online.
This concerns phase 2 of the construction of Microsoft’s data center complex in Middenmeer. Phase 1 involved AMS05 and AMS06, the first of which is now in use and the second is under construction. The current application concerns AMS07 and AMS08. The new locations have a surface area of 59,348m2, together with an office of 238m2, where about twenty employees will work. The construction of the two new buildings brings the total surface of the building to 112,330m2. Microsoft estimates the cost of the expansion at nearly 100 million euros. The company owns 37 hectares on the property and has plans for further expansion at this location.
The municipality of Hollands Kroon notes that the proposed construction is in conflict with the zoning plan, but wants to deviate from this because ‘the project does not conflict with good spatial planning’. The municipality wants to free up much more space for data centers and use another 70 hectares for this.
According to the Noordhollands Dagblad, an agricultural company has approached the Council of State for this reason, because this area was actually reserved for greenhouse horticulture. The company fears the consequences of the arrival of more data centers.
In 2013, it was first announced that Microsoft wanted to start up a large data center complex in Middenmeer. At the Agriport business park, greenhouse growers use a combined heat and power installation for heating the greenhouse and generating energy. Because by no means all the energy generated is needed for the greenhouses themselves, part is supplied to data centers. Conversely, the computer centers supply heat to the greenhouses.