482 Megawatts: Gigantic Data Center in Reinhessen
The city council of Nierstein am Rhein paves the way for one of the largest data centers in Europe.
Rendering of the NTT Data FRA5 data center near Hattersheim
(Image: NTT GDC EMEA)
The Japanese company NTT Data plans to build one of the largest data centers in Germany and Europe starting in 2027. “NTT Frankfurt 6” will be built on the 75-hectare site of a former US barracks in Rheinhessen, about 40 kilometers from Frankfurt's city center. The “Anderson Barracks” have belonged to the Federal Agency for Real Estate Tasks since 2010, and conveniently, the Dexheim substation with 110 kV lines is located nearby.
With 482 megawatts (MW) of power supply and cooling for servers, NTT Frankfurt 6 is currently the third-largest planned data center in Europe. Only the seawater-cooled Start Campus Sines DC in Portugal with 1.2 GW and the AI data center planned in Stockholm by Brookfield for 10 billion US dollars with up to 750 MW are significantly larger in Europe.
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The builder of NTT FRA6 is NTT Global Data Centers EMEA GmbH, which also emerged from the former company E-Shelter. NTT GDC already operates several data centers in Germany, including in and around Frankfurt, as well as in Berlin and Munich. At the Hattersheim site, NTT Data is currently expanding Frankfurt 4 (FRA4) to over 70 megawatts (MW). The new FRA5 directly at the A66 exit Hattersheim shares the site with a new data center from Ionos.
Old Barracks, Wind Farm Planned
The site of the US barracks near Nierstein or Dexheim is currently designated as Rhein-Selz-Park and belongs to the Rhein-Selz collective municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate. NTT GDC has been conducting a public participation process at this location for some time.
Not all details about the NTT Frankfurt 6 data center are known yet, as NTT GDC only plans to submit the building application in 2026. In any case, construction is scheduled to begin in 2027, and the data center is expected to become operational in 2029.
(Image:Â SelzEnergie)
Given the particularly high projected capacity, it is reasonable to assume that NTT FRA6 in Nierstein will primarily house AI servers.
The electricity is to come entirely from renewable sources, including through power purchasing agreements (PPAs). Immediately next to the data center, SelzEnergie plans a wind farm with 90 MW peak capacity with wind turbines from Enercon.
At all the new locations mentioned, NTT GDC intends to enable the use of waste heat. For Frankfurt 6, the company also emphasizes that cooling will be carried out in a closed loop with very low water consumption.
(ciw)
