FOLLOWING STEPS OF HAARLEMMERMEER

The Municipality of Amsterdam has come out with its proposal to resume issuance of data center construction permit within its governing region after the halt order in 2019.

As predicted, this announcement is coming few weeks after the Municipality of Haarlemmermeer published its new data center policy, as an effort to end the moratorium on data center construction which was initiated alongside Amsterdam Municipality.

The proposed Amsterdam data center policy provides an opportunity to develop new data centers in the region over the next 10 years, estimating an annual average growth of 67 MVA with a total availability of 670 MVA by 2030. “We are positive about the growth path in both proposals,” said Stijn Grove, director of Dutch Data Center Association (DDA). “It is good that there is now clarity again, that will also benefit the investment climate.”

At an estimated average annual growth of 70 MVA, the municipality of Haarlemmermeer will allow new data centers to be developed over the next 10 years on four specific locations including Polanenpark, Schiphol-Rijk, Schiphol Trade Park and Corneliahoeve.

Just like Haarlemmermeer, the municipality of Amsterdam has also designated four specific data center clusters where the development of new data centers will be permitted. These areas include Amstel III (South-East), Port/Port City (North-West), Schinkelkwartier (South) and Science Park (East).

The policy also requires new data centers to meet enhanced sustainability standards, which includes having a PUE of 1.2 and the adoption of nature-inclusive construction. The specifications and details of the new sustainability guidelines will be further elaborated in a Green Deal, an agreement between the sector, the municipalities and other stakeholders.

According to DDA, Haarlemmermeer and Amsterdam also focus on the period after 2030 in their new policies, strongly endorsing the need to realize a fourth hyper-connectivity cluster in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA), so that a regional spread of growth can be realized.

The Municipality boards of Amsterdam and Haarlemmermeer have now published their draft policy proposals for consultation, which will be made available for further deliberation and possibly approval by the city councils after the summer recess.