Google has been granted planning permission for a data center in Horndal, Sweden.

Sweden’s Land and Environment Court at Nacka District Court this week granted Google subsidiary DSC International AB permission for a data center in Avesta municipality.

Google acquired 109 hectares of land in the Dalarna region of Sweden, 160 kilometers north-west of Stockholm, in 2017. The company said at the time it had acquired the land as a potential data center location, but had no immediate plans to use it.

Specifications for the facility weren’t shared, but the court decision reported that the company also applied for permission to divert surface water from the Dalälven in the Bysjön area via 17km of pipes.

The decision also notes that the site will have a reserve power plant consisting of 200-250 diesel generators as backup.

The court has stipulated as a condition for the operation that DSC shall strive to use only fossil-free fuel in the reserve power generators by 2030. The company will also take measures to enable the utilization of waste heat, and pay for a connection point at the border of the business area where available waste heat will be provided free of charge.

The court will also require DSC to produce an energy management plan and in its annual environmental report how the work of replacing diesel with fossil-free fuel is progressing and what the company is doing to utilize the waste heat.

Under the terms of the agreement, Google must begin construction of the facility within ten years, but seems there are no immediate plans to begin construction.

Sara Övreby, Public Policy and Government Relations Manager, Google Sweden, recently said to Sverige Radio: “Should we build in Sweden, we will do it in Horndal.”

Computerworld Sweden reports that the company is planning five data halls on the site, and that local farmers had opposed the development on the grounds that the water pipe would destroy arable land.