The European Data Centers Operator Data4 has started the construction of its new data centers campus in Germanyin the old military base of Großauheim, in the city of Hanau. The event has been attended, among other representatives of the company and national politics, the Minister of Digitization and Innovation of Hesse, Kristina Sinemus; the mayor of Hanau, Claus Kaminsky; the general consul of France in Frankfurt, Nicolas Bergeret; and the president and CEO of Data4, Olivier Micheli.
This campus, which is being built on land of 25 hectares acquired a year and a half ago by Data4, is built within the framework of a project that aims to transform the Großauheim base into one of the largest centers of cloud and artificial intelligence in Europe. When finished and in operation, it will have an energy capacity of 180 MW. It is inspired by the Data4 campus in the French town of Marcoussis.
At present, Data 4 has a dozen data centers in Europe distributed by six countries. With presence in France, Italy, Spain, Poland and Greece, it dates 4 starts with its construction in Germany, and does so with the decision to double its initial investment in the country, up to 2,000 million euros. The Hanau campus will be a strategic node, in addition, for data traffic in the Rin-Meno area.
In line with the principles of sustainable development, this new campus will work 100% with decarbonized energy sources. In the campus, in addition, the construction of a cogeneration plant and a substation to guarantee energy supply is planned. In addition, Data4 plans to take advantage of the residual heat of the data centers for the benefit of the inhabitants of Hanau. During the reconstruction of the old military base, recycled demolition materials will also be used.
Olivier Micheli, President and CEO of Data4recalled that «Germany is one of the leading countries in Europe in digital infrastructure, which makes it a strategic market for us. We want to develop the new Hanau campus as one of the most powerful, sustainable and innovative data centers in Europe, and thus contribute to the digital future of the continent. This is only the beginning, we plan to expand our presence in Germany and open new locations in the coming years, with the ambition to be the European champion of data centers ».
