On Monday, the North Holland Provincial Council unanimously passed a motion calling for stricter oversight of new data centers. Council members are concerned about high water and electricity consumption. The immediate catalyst is a new Equinix data center that is estimated to use 1.1 billion liters of drinking water annually.
North Holland consists of the Amsterdam metropolitan region as well as the northeastern peninsula. It contains the AMS-IX internet exchange and just under 70 data centers currently, ranging from small colocations to hyperscale cloud regions.
The new motion by the province’s government puts the onus on the Provincial Executive, which must now implement the stricter policy. Rules for data center construction already exist in the region. However, according to the province, builders are circumventing these rules by splitting one large data center into several smaller units. The problem therefore seems to lie not so much with the intended requirements, but with the lack of practical requirements.
This practice is also at play in the Equinix project. According to reports on the project, it involves a data center with a WUE score of 1.690 that requires 1.1 billion liters of drinking water annually for cooling. PropertyNL reports that Equinix received a building permit for the Amstel III business park in Amsterdam Zuidoost, where, due to grid congestion, only one tower will be built for the time being.
Ban with exceptions
Since January 1, 2024, a nationwide ban has been in effect on new hyperscale data centers outside designated exemption areas. This ban applies to data centers exceeding 70 MW and larger than 10 hectares. Projects with previously issued permits or smaller plots are exempt. Under the exemption scheme, Eemshaven and Middenmeer are the two areas where hyperscale data centers are still permitted. Consequently, new data centers from Google and Microsoft, respectively, are being built there.
The province of North Holland had previously introduced its own data center strategy, under which data centers must make agreements regarding energy, water, and residual heat and must operate in a circular manner.
A measurable debate
Data center water consumption has long been under scrutiny in the province. For example, the Microsoft data center in Wieringermeer was found to have used 84,000 cubic meters of cooling water in 2021, compared to an estimate of 12,000 to 20,000 cubic meters.
This year, the national government is working on a national integrated approach designed to align data center growth with grid congestion, available space, and digital autonomy. However, it remains unclear to what extent provinces or municipalities will have a say in the matter or will be able to deviate from the established rules.
Also read (from last year): Microsoft purchases 50 hectares for Dutch data center expansion