The Dutch government has imposed a nine-month moratorium on the construction of massive new data centres for tech firms while new planning regulations are worked out.
The moratorium applies to centres covering more than 10 hectares and which require more than 70 megawatts of electricity.
The decision does not apply to Facebook’s planned hyperscale centre in Zeewolde, 50 km east of Amsterdam, which has sparked controversy because of its expected impact on electricity supplies.
Plans for two other centres – in Middenmeer and Eemshaven, in the north and northeast of the country – are also exempt from the freeze because both areas are considered suitable locations.
Explaining the rationale behind the nine-month freeze, planning minister Hugo de Jonge told MPs: ‘Hyperscale data centres take up a lot of space and use a disproportionate amount of the available renewable energy. That’s why the cabinet wants to prevent them from being built all over the country.’
In a reaction, the Dutch Datacenter Association said that the growth of digitisation requires a ‘robust digital infrastructure in which regional, private, national, international and hyperscale data centers form an important part’.
But referring to Facebook’s centre in Zeewolde, De Jonge said it ‘has a relatively limited impact on the Netherlands’ international competitive position and digital infrastructure’.
The new, tighter rules will mean central government takes a leading role in granting permission for new centres, something which has until now been up to local authorities.
