Microsoft is to build two data centers near Cologne as part of a major German investment program.
Microsoft first announced plans to invest €3.2 billion ($3.44bn) to double its AI infrastructure and cloud computing capacity in Germany back in February. As well as the expansion of Microsoft's cloud region in Frankfurt, the announcement noted newly planned infrastructure in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The company is developing data centers in Bergheim and Bedburg, two towns to the west of Cologne in the Rhein-Erft district.
The company is to build two data centers; one on a 20-hectare site at the INKA: terra nova industrial park in Bergheim and another on an 18-hectare site at the new BEB61 industrial estate in Bedburg.
A filing with the Green Building Information Gateway suggests the Bergheim facility will total 270,605 sq ft. Construction is set to start this year and the sites are set to go live in 2026.
Microsoft had reportedly been in discussions with local officials for two years prior to February’s announcement.
"The establishment of a hyperscale data center campus from Microsoft is an absolute game changer for our city, the region, and the Rhineland region. With this establishment, through a team effort from our three cities, we are bringing a completely new technology infrastructure to our region that simply did not exist here before. The cloud is at home in these data centers, a technology that we all - whether companies, administration, schools, or the health care system - rely on every day," said Bedburg Mayor Sascha Solbach.
BUND, the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation, is opposing the developments, saying the facilities should be built on existing industrial sites rather than newly created industrial land. More than 20,000 have signed the group’s petition against the projects.
Microsoft announced plans to launch cloud regions in Germany in 2018, with the Germany West Central Azure region becoming widely available in early 2021. The cloud region, when announced, was hosted in three separate data centers. The company also has the Germany North Azure region, though this is listed as "not supported," and is paired with the West Central region.