German telco NetCologne has broken ground on a new data center in Cologne.
The company has begun work on the new facility, located in Lövenich, and is scheduled to complete the project in spring 2024.
The initial phase will be six data halls. The modular design will allow for further expansion in the future.
NetCologne said the new site will be used for the telco’s own processing as well as hosting customers.
The development will include green facades, photovoltaic systems, and waste heat reuse. NetCologne said it will purchase green electricity from RheinEnergie.
“With our new data center, we offer our customers data storage and processing services that are secure, regional, and at the same time sustainable," Timo von Lepel, managing director of NetCologne, said. "In this combination, this offer is unique in our region.”
Founded in 1994, NetCologne operates a large fiber optic network across the greater Cologne/Bonn/Aachen areas. The company is owned by the City of Cologne via GEW Köln AG/Stadtwerke Köln Group. The group also owns local utility RheinEnergie.
NetCologne currently operates at least one other data center in the city, at Nettesheimer Str. 20 in the Heimersdorf-Nord area of the city. The company last announced the opening of a data center in 2016 – launching a facility in the city offering capacity for 400 racks across 1,000 sqm (10,765 sq ft).
The company previously launched a 600 sqm (6,460 sq ft) facility in Süsterfeld in 2007 in partnership with IT services firm Syniax (which merged with Cancom in 2017).
