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Facebook eyes second Danish data centre after buying large plot

Ritzau/The Local
Ritzau/The Local - [email protected]
Facebook eyes second Danish data centre after buying large plot
FILE PHOTO: A Facebook logo is displayed on a smartphone in this illustration taken January 6, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

Social media giant Facebook has bought a large plot of land near Esbjerg in western Denmark and is reported to be considering construction of a major data centre.

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The plot, located at Andrup, is 212 hectares in area and cost 277 million kroner, Esbjerg Municipality said in a statement.

The US company made similar considerations in 2018 and 2019 before not going ahead with a construction project. But plans to build a Danish data centre appear to now be back on the table.

In a written comment, a Facebook spokesperson said no final decision had been made to build a datacentre.

“In the coming months, introductory, preparatory work will be undertaken to support further development of the area,” the spokesperson said in comments reported by news wire Ritzau.

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“The construction of a data centre will not begin until a final investment decision has been made,” they added.

The plot of land is the size of approximately 300 football pitches.

Esbjerg mayor Jesper Frost Rasmussen praised the sale but noted a data centre was not guaranteed.

“I’m very pleased that Facebook is back in Esbjerg and again looking into establishing a data centre at Andrup,” Rasmussen said.

“The completion of a purchasing contract is just the first milestone in this process,” he added.

Facebook already has one large data centre in Denmark. The centre, near Odense is around 100,000 square metres in size. The company is reported to be considering extending it.

The Odense centre is one of 18 data centres run by the company globally. 14 are in the United States.

READ ALSO: Danish media team up to forge copyright deals with Google and Facebook

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