Housing Minister Opposing Meta's Zeewolde Data Center Development

Meta’s data center proposal in Zeewolde, the Netherlands, appears to have hit another roadblock. The current Minister of Housing of the Netherlands, Hugo de Jonge, has revealed that he plans to prevent the development of the facility. Although the Zeewolde council has approved the zoning change for the data center development to go on, there’s trouble as part of the land intended for the facility belongs to the government. The minister is poised to take advantage of this situation to prevent Meta’s plans from materializing.

De Jonge said the land in question belongs to the government, and certain conditions for sale have been put in place that Zeewolde is unlikely to meet. He added that the country is too small for the type of large facility Meta wants to build. The conditions put in place focus on sustainability, including sustainable energy, infrastructure, and water. The development of hyperscale data centers in the Netherlands is controversial because of their high power usage, which provides little benefit to the locals. For example, Meta’s proposed data center will consume 200MW of power while providing only 400 jobs.