Equinix is preparing to build one of the Netherlands’ most significant new digital infrastructure projects with a €1.5 billion data center planned for the Flevokust Haven business park in Lelystad. The company expects the facility to support data workloads for roughly 100 organizations across government, healthcare, enterprise IT, and AI development.
An additional €5.5 billion in partner funding is tied to the broader project ecosystem, underscoring the scale of private-sector investment flowing into regional digital infrastructure.
A defining feature of the development is its power strategy. Despite requiring approximately 150 megawatts of electricity annually, Equinix says the new site will not place additional stress on the public grid. Instead, it will draw power directly from the adjacent Maxima Power Plant, a natural gas-powered facility on an island in Lake IJsselmeer owned by Engie Netherlands. This arrangement, planned nearly a decade ago when the area was designated as a data center zone, allows Equinix to bypass the increasingly congested Dutch transmission network while securing predictable capacity for future growth.
The project includes three low-rise, two-story buildings and will rely on groundwater-based cooling rather than extracting cold water from Lake IJsselmeer. Equinix says the closed-loop design mirrors cooling practices already in use at one of its Amsterdam facilities and is intended to reduce environmental impact while maintaining high operational reliability. Construction is expected to require about 500 workers, with approximately 150 permanent roles projected once the site becomes operational.
Michiel Eielts, Managing Director of Equinix Benelux, describes the facility as a digital “hotel,” where the company provides the highly engineered infrastructure and tenants deploy their own IT systems within it. He notes that renters include Dutch government agencies, medical organizations, and companies building AI models and services. As part of the development, Equinix will also establish an AI innovation lab that gives startups free access to compute capacity for research and experimentation, aiming to strengthen the technology ecosystem in Flevoland and surrounding regions.
Local permitting processes are expected to move more quickly than for comparable projects, due to the municipality’s 2016 designation of the Flevokust Haven parcel as a dedicated data center site. Equinix is now securing the required approvals and anticipates construction could begin in 2025, with phased delivery planned for 2028 and 2029.
Executive Insights FAQ
Why is Equinix building a large data center in Lelystad?
To expand Dutch and regional digital capacity while leveraging a site pre-zoned for data centers and directly adjacent to reliable power infrastructure.
How does the project avoid stressing the public grid?
By sourcing electricity directly from the Maxima Power Plant rather than drawing from the national transmission network.
What cooling technology will the facility use?
A groundwater-based system similar to the design operating at one of Equinix’s Amsterdam sites, aimed at reducing environmental impact and improving efficiency.
What types of organizations are expected to use the new data center?
Government agencies, healthcare providers, enterprise IT tenants, and AI-focused companies, including startups supported through an on-site AI lab.
When will the data center become operational?
Construction is expected to begin next year, with the facility coming online in phases between 2028 and 2029.
