‘Environmental effects of new mega data center Zeewolde still not fully understood’
The EIA Committee states that the environmental consequences of the arrival of a large data center at Zeewolde are not yet well understood. For example, it is unknown what the nitrogen emissions from construction traffic will be. The committee advises the municipality and province to wait with the building permit.
The Environmental Impact Assessment Committee stated in April that the environmental effects of the mega data center to be constructed on a 166ha site near Zeewolde were insufficiently clear. The developers were then given the opportunity to supplement the environmental impact assessment before the municipality of Zeewolde and the province of Flevoland would decide on the construction. The revised report is therefore still insufficient, according to the EIA Committee. This is stated in a new advice to the municipality and province.
The EIA Committee has been established by law to conduct independent investigations into the content of environmental impact assessments for large construction projects. The committee states that the environmental consequences are almost completely in the picture, but not yet completely. The environmental impact report that developer Polder Networks BV wrote provides sufficient insight into the environmental effects of construction on almost all points, only the possible consequences of extra construction traffic for the Veluwe nature reserve have not yet been properly investigated. During the long construction phase, there is a lot of construction traffic that has to move through the protected nature area. According to the committee, the nitrogen effects of these extra traffic movements are not included in the report.
In addition, the committee would like to see a clear description in the report of the consequences of the disappearance of the foraging area of bird species as a result of the arrival of the data center. That area is part of the conservation objectives of this Natura 2000 area. The committee also warns against the construction of overhead high-voltage pylons and cables that must be built for the data center and the business park. It must be properly mapped out whether the arrival of this high-voltage network will not lead to the death of birds and bats in the area, especially at night. These two additional recommendations ‘benefit decision-making’, but are not weighty.
The committee also advises that the data center can generate more electricity itself than it intends to. According to the committee, there is great potential for generating energy on the data center site, for example by installing solar panels on roofs, facades, parking lots and along waterways. Potentially 70,000MWh per year can be generated on site, which is five percent of the data center’s total annual demand. However, according to the committee, not all of this capacity is being used.
All other points on which negative advice was given in April, such as the use of surface water to cool the data center, air quality and noise pollution, have now been well substantiated and investigated, according to the committee. Nevertheless, the advice to the municipality and the province is to wait with their judgment on the construction until the additional points have also been properly described.
At Trekkersveld 4, a 166ha data center is to come from an as yet unconfirmed American party, perhaps Facebook. At the beginning of this year, Polder Networks bv bought 80ha of the area from the municipality. This company acts as an intermediary for a data giant. The rest of the area must be purchased from Rijksvastgoedbeheer once all permits have been obtained and the municipality of Zeewolde and the province of Flevoland have agreed.
Plans for the upcoming data center at Zeewolde. Polder Networks recently bought the green, purple and half of the blue part of the municipality. The rest hope to buy it soon. Image: Municipality of Zeewolde