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Google eyes 5.3m sqft data centre campus expansion in Denmark

Company’s current US$700 million facility could in coming years nearly double in size as demand for Google services, especially public cloud offerings, continue to drive digital infrastructure investment up.

By João Marques Lima

Founder and Editor, The Tech Capital

3 Mins

October 12, 2021 | 11:28 AM BST

Google eyes 5.3m sqft data centre campus expansion in Denmark

Aerial view of Google’s Fredericia data centre campus in Denmark. Source: Google Cloud

The Tech Capital

Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) has acquired a 121,686 sqm/1.3 million sq ft piece-of-land from the Fredericia Municipality in Denmark, where the search engine giant operates a DKK4.6 billion (US$700 million) data centre since December 2020.

The plot in the Princess’ Quarter in Taulov is located next to the existing hosting facility and has been sold by local authorities for a potential future extension of the site.

In addition to the acquired land, the Fredericia Municipality has also approved Google’s purchase right of an extra 375,000 sqm/4.03 million sq ft piece of land at the same site.

Combined, the acquired land, the possible future purchase and the existing campus of 730,000 sqm/7.85 million sq ft, the potential future Google data centre campus in Denmark could cover as much as 1.23 million sqm/13.2 million sq ft of gross land area.

Steen Wrist, Mayor of Fredericia, said: “We are proud and happy that Google has chosen to get involved in Fredericia. With the purchase of the extra land, Google is buying into more options here for the future, and that is extremely positive. And of course, a statement that Google wants to invest in Fredericia.”

However, Google is yet to firm on a date for when it will use the newly acquired land.

Google’s data centre manager, Arni Jonsson, added: “We already have a really good relationship with Fredericia and are happy to be here and get involved in the city. With the purchase of extra land, we get the opportunity to expand our presence at a later date. Exactly how is still too early to say.”

Around 150 people are employed at the current data centre in a range of roles including computer technicians, electrical and mechanical engineers, catering, and security staff.

Fredericia is one of six hyperscale data centres Google has in Europe, joining other sites in Belgium, Finland, Ireland, and the Netherlands.

The land acquisition in Denmark comes less than a week after the company purchased a 300-acre plot in Eagle Mountain, Utah, where it might build a large US$1.2 billion data centre campus.

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João Marques Lima

Founder and Editor, The Tech Capital

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