Microsoft has reportedly gained approval from local officials to construct a new data center in Amsterdam’s western port area. Dutch News, citing NRC research, reports that the complex will consist of three 85-metre-high buildings, and is proceeding despite a ban on new hyperscale data center development within city limits, which was introduced due to the strain they placed on the electricity grid.
In 2022, the Dutch Ministry of the Interior had imposed a nationwide interim ban on permitting new hyperscale data centers while it prepared permanent legislation to regulate their location, citing concerns over high electricity consumption and spatial planning.
According to analysis by CMS Law-Now, the preliminary decision prohibits changes to zoning or land use that would enable hyperscale data centers defined as facilities, or integrated groups of buildings, covering over 10 hectares with an electrical connection capacity of at least 70 MW and requires suspension of all new permit applications during the policy-development period. The measure applies across the Netherlands, except in designated areas of Hollands Kroon and Het Hogeland, which are already identified in the National Environmental Vision as suitable locations.
The legal basis for the ban is the Spatial Planning Act, establishes the legal framework for the decision by providing that, if national interests require an intervention on the national level to ensure good spatial planning, rules regarding the content of zoning plans and other spatial decisions at a decentralised level can be set by or under a General administrative order.
However, the data center project was initially announced in 2016, before the ban came into effect, purportedly allowing it to circumvent the ban. Moreover, as IT Daily reports, Microsoft is building three high towers, so they do not take up more than 10 hectares. Moreover, each tower reportedly consumes 26 MW, making a total of 78 MW. The publication further reports that Microsoft says in NRC that it is committed to “carefully integrating data centers into the environment, with high standards in the field of energy efficiency and an open and transparent dialogue with local stakeholders.” Additionally, Microsoft says that it “normally does not share anything about commercial contracts, but in this case it recognizes the public interest.”
Expressing concerns about the impact of the development, Rick Pijpers, Dutch data center lobby group Nederlandse Soevereine Datacenter Cooperatie, told Dutch news, “Six new server farms are being built in the Wieringermeerpolder on top of the 10 already there. Everything is going to the Americans and there is hardly any grid capacity left for local data centers, which are so important for Dutch industry and the government.”
Earlier this month advocacy group Article 19 Europe, joined five other civil society groups – Leitmotiv, Advocates for the Future, Bits of Freedom, the critical infrastructure lab, and De Goede Zaak – demanding clarity from Amsterdam municipality and North Holland province on the project’s ownership structure and governance requirements. It claims that this new facility will consume as much energy as the entire city of Haarlem.
The new project has raised strong awareness that Microsoft’s influence in the Dutch market is greater than many realise. Plans for 30,000 new homes and 50 schools are now reportedly at risk due to the grid capacity shortage in Amsterdam, as city officials warn there are “no quick fixes” to resolve the issue, as stated at the end of 2025.