Google plans to establish a new datacenter near the Belgian city of La Louvière. The tech giant has recently purchased 36 acres of land.
Belgian media report that Google plans to build its new datacenter in Ecaussines, a municipality in the Belgian province of Hainaut. Ecaussines lies south of the capital city of Brussels, located close to La Louvière. The datacenter will be located in the municipality’s Feluy industrial zone.
Expanding footprint
By establishing a new datacenter, Google aims to further expand its presence in Belgium. The tech giant already operates a major Belgian datacenter in the commune of Saint-Ghislain. In 2021, land was purchased for the construction of a possible sixth datacenter in Farciennes, near the industrial city of Charleroi.
Whether the latter datacenter will actually be built is not yet known. Google’s strategy in Belgium revolves around purchasing land to build future datacenters when needed.
Belgian government
The unveiling of the datacenter location in Ecaussines was attended by Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo and Belgian telecommunications minister Petra de Sutter. The Belgian prime minister said he’s excited about the tech giant’s new investment. In his view, it strengthens the country’s position as a digital pioneer.
De Croo also believes the investment will benefit its own digital infrastructure, which means that Belgium and Europe become less dependent on other countries or world regions.
Tip: ‘Google wants to build sixth Belgian data center near Charleroi’