Norwegian data center firm Green Mountain and German power company KMW have broken ground on a new data center in Mainz, outside Frankfurt.
The first 18MW building of the 25,000 sqm (269,100 sq ft) campus site is set to be completed in Q1 2025.
Green Mountain and KMW partnered in a joint venture earlier this year for the project, located 30 km outside Frankfurt. At full build-out, the site could offer 54MW across three buildings.
“This is truly a proud day in our company’s history. I am confident that this project will set a new green standard when it comes to data centers in Germany,” said Green Mountain CEO, Svein Atle Hagaseth.
Oliver Malerius, CEO of KMW, said: "This data center, founded on a groundbreaking partnership with Green Mountain, is a symbol of technical excellence and sustainability. It shows how innovation and environmental protection can go hand in hand, and it fills us with pride, to help shape a green digital future."
The data center will be cooled by the nearby river Rhine and the waste heat produced will be fed directly into the existing district heating network of the city of Mainz.
The facility will have a target PUE of 1.3 and rely on a KMW gas plant to supply the backup power in lieu of generators.
The companies said the campus can support both multi-tenant contracts as well as dedicated buildings for larger client installations.
Green Mountain was founded in 2009. Israeli real estate firm Azrieli Group acquired Green Mountain from Norwegian real estate firm Smedvig for $850 million in 2021.
It operates three sites across Norway in Oslo, Rjukan, and Rennesøy. A new campus in Kalberg is in development.
Further campuses are planned in Gismarvik, Undheim, and Hønefoss. The company has signed a 90MW hosting deal with TikTok at its OSL2-Hamar site in Hønefoss and a 10MW deal with a cloud provider in Oslo.
While the company primarily operates in Norway, last year it acquired a data center outside London in Romford, UK.
Officially founded in 1931 with roots back to the late 1800s, KMW has invested in around 10 wind farms, two solar farms, a wind-to-hydrogen plant, a CHP plant, a biogas plant, a 330MW peaking plant, a district heating storage tank, and several power plants.
