Meta is client hyperscale data center Zeewolde

Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, wants to build a large data center in Zeewolde. Those plans have been discussed for a long time, but until now it had not been officially confirmed which party is behind the plans.

The zoning plan for the data center has been approved by the Municipal Executive and will be forwarded to the municipal council, which will make a decision on 16 December. The college announced this in a press conference broadcast by Omroep Flevoland.

According to the commission, the arrival of the Meta data center is good for Zeewolde and Flevoland. Meta would like to invest in the community and the arrival of the data center would provide new types of employment. The Commission also sees possibilities for using residual heat.

It has been known for a long time that an American tech company has plans for a large data center in Zeewolde. Last year it turned out that a business park was being expanded for this purpose. Meta has bought more than 80 hectares of land from the municipality of Zeewolde through the intermediary company Polder Networks, it turned out in April. There were already indications that it was the Facebook parent company, but that was not confirmed.

According to Omroep Flevoland, the municipality of Zeewolde has been discussing the arrival of the mega data center at the Trekkersveld business park since 2019. Meta wanted to remain out of the public eye until final consent was given. The company has now given openness, because the municipality of Zeewolde will soon publish documents in which the name is mentioned.

Earlier this year, the arrival of the data center was postponed due to possible impact on nature. The environmental impact statement would have been insufficient and too optimistic. This was subsequently investigated by a committee. He concluded that there would be much less nitrogen precipitation in the Veluwe than had been thought.