What a campus means for a municipality.
Numbers from published projects in Germany and from conversations with operators. No promises, orders of magnitude.
- Permanent jobs per 500 MW in operation, plus the construction phase over several years.
- 50 to 80
- Trade tax per 10 MW of connected capacity per year, depending on structure and apportionment.
- ca. 1 m EUR
- Temperature of the waste heat, usable for local heating, greenhouses and drying.
- 35 to 55 °C
- Truck traffic in ongoing operation. Traffic occurs only during the construction phase.
- 0 trucks
- for cooling in ongoing operation. Closed loops, no evaporative cooling.
- No water extraction
- Sound emissions at the property boundary. No longer perceptible from 500 m away in rural areas.
- 45 to 55 dB(A)
Source: Telis, Mehrum project (municipality of Hohenhameln), 2026.
Source: experience from operator conversations.
Source: EnEfG, manufacturer specifications.
Frequently asked questions
Jobs in the construction phase over several years and permanent jobs in operation. Orders for local trades and businesses. Training of skilled workers at the site. Trade tax. Waste heat for local heating or agriculture. Plus standard participation models: a municipal development fund or a stake in the project company. Direct payments per kilowatt hour are not permissible.
Modern facilities cool via closed loops. Evaporative cooling is not permitted in Germany. No groundwater and no river water is extracted for cooling. Water demand corresponds to that of a commercial business: sanitary use, filling and topping up the loops, firefighting water.
Sound sources are cooling systems in continuous operation and backup power tests on around 20 hours per year. At the property boundary, sound emissions are 45 to 55 dB(A); from 500 m away they are no longer perceptible in rural areas. The limits of the TA Lärm (the German regulation on sound emissions) are met through distance and landscaping; 200 to 500 m distance to housing is planned.
Around 1,000 m2 per MW, so 20 to 25 ha per 100 MW including substation, storage, setback and green areas. Buildings are 21 to 25 m high.
From 1 January 2027, data centers in Germany must be operated with 100 percent renewable electricity on a balance-sheet basis (EnEfG). Terawerk sites sit where wind and solar power are generated, with direct supply contracts from the region.
A zoning category in the Bebauungsplan (zoning plan) under section 11 BauNVO that operators demand before buying. Alternatively an industrial zone. The process takes 12 to 24 months.
Yes. The EnEfG requires new data centers to use 10 percent of waste heat for commissioning from July 2026, 15 percent from July 2027 and 20 percent from July 2028. If there is no offtaker, an exemption with evidence is possible.
Not Terawerk. We develop the site to shovel-ready and select the operator together with the municipality. The operator builds on its own balance sheet and takes over operations.
Let's talk about your municipality.
Alexander Schuster replies within one business day.
What we ask of the municipality
The council's basic position, access to the owners, readiness for a formal zoning resolution as soon as the grid operator has classified the capacity, and a working level in the building authority and economic development office.
What we ask of the state
Focus regions at transmission nodes and power plant sites, a coordinator for large-load settlements, a model Bebauungsplan (zoning plan) for a Sondergebiet Rechenzentrum, and a practical review of the procedures. Goal: building rights in 12 instead of 24 to 36 months.
Site criteria for a data center region
The criteria we use to assess sites: capacity, grid connection, land, zoning, water, heat, exclusion criteria. In German.
One page. PDF.
Reference projects in Germany
Third-party projects, public figures.
Mehrum
Telis in Mehrum, municipality of Hohenhameln: up to 500 MW on the site of a decommissioned coal power plant, 38 ha, unanimous zoning resolution on 19 March 2026, construction start 2028.
Lübbenau
Schwarz Digits in Lübbenau: 200 MW on a power plant site, EUR 11 bn over 15 years, groundbreaking 18 November 2025.
Dummerstorf
Schwarz Digits in Dummerstorf: 240 MW by 2033, option for 1 GW by 2045, the State of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania as partner, announced 27 August 2026.