Dutch economy faces billions in losses as Amsterdam data center expansion halts
The Dutch economy risks losing billions of euros as data center expansion comes to a halt, De Telegraaf reported, citing a new ING analysis.
Amsterdam’s power grid is full, preventing new data centers from being built until 2035, even though the city is the country’s digital hub. “There is still a little expansion, but no new data centers will be added. At some point, they will simply be full,” Samantha Reilly, sector analyst at ING, told De Telegraaf. Without new construction, jobs, investment, and technical knowledge could reportedly move abroad.
More than 200 data centers operate in the Netherlands, with over half located in the Amsterdam region. These include commercial server facilities and large sites for Google in Eemshaven and Winschoten and Microsoft in Middenmeer, providing cloud services for countless online platforms.Companies relying on artificial intelligence, fintech, or cloud computing may relocate abroad if capacity remains limited.
The sector has consolidated in recent years, with the number of data centers dropping slightly from 198 in 2018 to 191 in 2024, while total floor space grew from 267,000 to 393,000 square meters. Efficiency improvements have allowed existing facilities to deliver more computing power.
Critics cite the high energy and water use of data centers, but ING notes they account for only 3.3 percent of the Netherlands’ electricity and 0.08% of water use. The bank urges government planning to link new centers to sustainable energy, such as offshore wind parks using excess heat for district heating.
“The quality of our infrastructure will decline, and other locations will take over these hub functions,” Reilly told De Telegraaf, warning that the Netherlands could lose its position in fintech, cloud, and AI without proactive measures.
