Friesen Elektra Explores Data Center at Green Hydrogen Park in Lower Saxony

Renewable energy firm Friesen Elektra is exploring the construction of a data center at its planned green hydrogen production facility in Lower Saxony, northwestern Germany, as the region positions itself for a wave of new digital infrastructure investment.

The company has applied for a zoning exemption that would permit the construction of a data center at the site of its "Wasserstoffpark Friesland" hydrogen park outside the town of Sande, located between the B436 and A29 roads, according to local outlet NWZonline, which first reported the story. No details have been released regarding the project's likely IT compute capacity.

The hydrogen park as a whole is targeting 400MW of power generation. Sande's municipal building committee has already met to discuss the zoning exemption application, as the site is not currently zoned to allow data center construction. According to a briefing document seen by the committee, any light and noise pollution from the proposed data center would be comparable to that of Wasserstoffpark Friesland, which has already been approved by Sande authorities. The next stage of the planning process will involve the town's administrative committee voting on the application in a non-public session before the matter is passed to district authorities for final approval.

Friesen Elektra spokesperson Karsten Gleich told NWZonline that any data center at Wasserstoffpark Friesland would be powered by the 380 kV high-voltage grid and from regional surpluses of green electricity, but would not draw from the grid supplying local homes and businesses. Cooling would be provided by the extension of a closed-loop water system already planned for the green hydrogen facility, which is designed to utilize a combination of wastewater, seawater drainage, and surface drainage from the nearby Ems-Jade Canal.

Founded in 1999, Friesen Elektra operates several wind and solar power plants throughout northern Germany. It received approval for Wasserstoffpark Friesland in June. The electrolysis facility is designed to have an initial capacity of 400MW and produce up to 80,000 tonnes of green hydrogen annually. If a data center is built at the site, it would add to a small but growing market in the region. Though Lower Saxony currently hosts only five facilities, several new projects are planned, including a 500MW data center announced in April by Telis Energie Deutschland outside Hanover, and another project of indeterminate IT compute capacity revealed for Wilhelmshaven in May. The development reflects a broader trend of renewable energy companies seeking to integrate data center operations with green power generation assets, leveraging existing grid connections and sustainable cooling infrastructure to serve growing demand for compute capacity across Europe.