Construction Begins on €3.4M Municipal Data Center in Meppen, Germany

Construction has officially started on a new municipal data center in Meppen, Lower Saxony, Germany, as part of a broader effort to upgrade the Emsland region's IT infrastructure. The facility, scheduled for completion by the end of 2027, carries a total budget of €3.4 million ($3.8 million), underscoring the growing pressure on local governments to comply with national critical infrastructure regulations.

The data center will be built as an extension to the Meppen district administration building, spanning 7,060 square feet (655 square meters) across three floors. Two of those floors will house office space, while the third will be dedicated to server operations. Access to the secure server area will be protected by two-factor authentication, according to local reports. The project includes an estimated €2.24 million ($2.56 million) in construction costs, with an additional €1.2 million ($1.37 million) allocated for technical equipment, including an uninterruptible power supply.

The district administration building itself is classified as critical infrastructure under German law, requiring the municipality to safeguard against service failure or impairment caused by external interference or natural disasters. District administrator Marc-André Burgdorf stated in a recent press release that the new data center would ensure the municipality’s compliance with these stringent requirements. “This will make our data and power supply crisis-proof for the coming decades,” Burgdorf said.

No details have been released regarding the facility’s projected power capacity. The local authorities have not yet responded to requests for comment. The data center market in Lower Saxony remains relatively modest compared to the rest of Germany, with DataCenters.com listing nine operational and planned facilities in the region. These are expected to be joined by a 500MW project announced by renewable energy developer Telis Energie Deutschland and a large-scale facility of undisclosed compute capacity proposed for the nearby town of Wilhelmshaven.