Beyza Binnur Dönmez
15 July 2026•Update: 15 July 2026
A Microsoft data center in the Netherlands accounted for about 1% of the country's total electricity consumption last year, Dutch public broadcaster NOS reported Tuesday, citing newly released government data.
The large data center near the village of Middenmeer in North Holland used 1.17 terawatt hours (TWh), according to data made public by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).
The Netherlands consumed 116 TWh of electricity in total last year, based on figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
The figures provide the first insight into the electricity consumption of certain major data centers in the country, although data from Google's facilities are not publicly available, NOS reported.
Data center power use has become a subject of debate as the Dutch electricity grid faces pressure in many areas.
In 2024, a group of around 45 data centers accounted for 4.2% of Dutch electricity consumption, equivalent to the consumption of 1.9 million homes, according to CBS.
Google operates two major data centers in the Netherlands but declined to disclose their individual consumption figures.
"We consider the power consumption of individual data centers as competitively sensitive information that we prefer to keep to ourselves," a Google spokesperson said in the report.
The Netherlands has restricted the construction of large data centers in many areas in recent years, though facilities below government size thresholds continue to be built.
