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Data Centre Blog 4.0: What the Municipality of Amsterdam tells us about future Data Centre development
8 August 2020
In July 2019, the city authorities of Amsterdam and Haarlemmermeer in the Netherlands announced a moratorium on new Data Centre development, pending the introduction of a new planning regime.
The Netherlands, particularly in the Amsterdam area, has seen the most Data Centre development for a country of its size, with a 3rd party market size of over 495,000 m2 (the third largest Data Centre market in Europe) with the Amsterdam area accounting for around two-thirds of total 3rd party Dutch Data Centre space (as identified by the DCP Dutch Data Centre Landscape).
At the beginning of July 2020 new planning guidelines were provided for public comment, which seek to limit the growth of new Data Centres in total with new facilities to be permitted in specific areas only.
In many countries, city authorities are having to balance new building with conservation and sustainability goals. Planning procedures are being used to ensure more sustainable developments. Data Centres are placed in the planning mix. What is new is the specific Data Centre planning guidelines being proposed in the Netherlands, with other countries likely to follow. In July 2019 the two Dutch municipalities of Amsterdam and Haarlemmermeer implemented a surprise moratorium on new Data Centre construction. Almost a year after the moratorium was first imposed both municipalities have now published a code to govern new Data Centre development.
Prior to July 2019 energy companies were obliged to provide connectivity to any Data Centre request for power. Now, however the use of power for Data Centres is to be subject to new proposed policy guidelines.
The policy guidelines published for new Data Centres in the two regions is contingent on –
- A PUE (Performance Usage Efficiency) metric of under 1.2
- Total new Data Centre power to be limited to 67 MVA per annum (Amsterdam) or 70 MVA per annum (Haarlemmermeer) over a 10 year period
- Haarlemmermeer has designated existing specific areas with Data Centre space (including Polanenpark, Schiphol-Rijk and Cornelia Hoeve) with 152,500 m2 of space in total to be assigned
- Amsterdam has designated the following areas for development including Amstel III (South East), Port/Port City (North West), Schinkelkwartier (South) and Science Park (East)
- The installation of additional power generation capacity by the Data Centre Provider (required for 80 MVA and above)
The Haarlemmermeer area is an important area for Data Centres and includes Data Centres provided by Equinix (in Amstel) and Interxion (in Schiphol).
Figure 1 – A map showing the Haarlemmermeer municipal area
The annual Data Centre power growth rate for both municipalities is fixed at 10 per cent per annum, equivalent to the annual growth rate for the past year.
There is also to be a “green deal” still to be confirmed by the municipalities which may include the following -
- The re-use of excess Data Centre heat by residential housing
- Water consumption monitoring
- Circular construction (minimising environmental impact via the reuse of materials)
- Data Centres to fit in with the surrounding environment (spatial integration)
- Possible re-use of the ground floor of Data Centres (under investigation)
The Haarlemmermeer municipality published its revised planning in June and has allowed Data Centre construction to restart. Both municipalities are to finalise their planning rules in the Autumn (after a consultation period at the end of August) for Data Centres and is dependent on municipal council votes to be held in October.
Meanwhile, at the end of June 2020, Global Switch announced the development of Amsterdam East, its 2nd Data Centre facility adjacent to its existing Amsterdam West Data Centre. The development was agreed by the Amsterdam Municipality ahead of the revised planning regime. Global Switch East is to have a claimed PUE of under 1.2 and be supplied by green energy and is to increase power by 40 MVA – and is using its existing dedicated mains supply.
The new planning regime is seen as codifying existing concerns. It reflects the political impact of the Green Party in Amsterdam. The Dutch Datacenter Association (DDA) believes that the new guidelines are to be adopted in practice nationwide and in the wider MRA (Metro Region Amsterdam). Colocation Data Centres are still to be based in the Amsterdam area close to their customers due to latency issues. But the DDA is considering more innovation including the use of green roofing, the use of moats instead of fencing and the use of hydrogen power.
In essence the Dutch Data Centre market is responding to concerns and is codifying existing adhoc guidelines also being seen in other established European Data Centre markets. Rather than take a case by case approach to Data Centre developments Amsterdam and Haarlemmermeer have provided rules for new Data Centres which can be adopted by other Data Centre regions in Europe and beyond.
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