A new data center is coming to southwest Germany.

Energy firm E-Werk Mittelbaden and IT services provider Leitwerk are investing €16 million ($18.63m) in a new data center within the startkLahr Airport & Business Park in Lahr, close to the French border in western Baden-Württemberg.

“Starting signal for our data center in Lahr,” Julian Neunstöcklin, managing director at Leitwerk Data Centers Appenweier/Lahr GmbH, said on LinkedIn. “We are pleased to announce the official start of construction for our second Baden Cloud data center. After the first data center in Appenweier, which was built five years ago, has been utilized, we will create additional data center capacities in Lahr in the future.”

The project has broken ground. Set to go live in 2027, the 600 sqm (6,460 sq ft), 1MW facility will serve Leiwerk’s Baden Cloud division. It will offer capacity for up to 230 racks. A rooftop solar system is planned.

Ralf Schaufler, managing director of Leitwerk Data Centers Appenweier/Lahr GmbH, said: “As a regional IT systems provider, we currently operate two data centers and are familiar with the challenges they entail. Whether you’re a freelancer, a medium-sized business, or a corporation, with our individually tailored offerings from our data centers or from the connectivity portfolio of Link2Air GmbH, we understand the IT needs of companies rooted in their home country yet operating globally. Even in emergencies, Leitwerk’s helping hands are always available for our customers’ IT systems.”

The facility is being built in conjunction with E-Werk Mittelbaden and is the second data center built in partnership with the firm. Joining forces in 2017, the companies have been planning the Lahr facility since at least 2021.

Leiwerk operates a data center site in Appenweier. Built in conjunction with E-Werk in a 50:50 joint venture by DataCenter Group, the Appenweier facility broke ground in 2018 and opened around 2020.

Founded in 1992, Leiwerk is part of the Q-Fox Group. As well as IT services, the company offers colocation and cloud services from the existing data center via its Baden Cloud unit, which was launched back in 2011. According to the company, its first data center opened around 2012.

The existing Appenweier data center includes a redundant Internet connection via microwave radio to local manufacturing firm Stopa. Installed after a fiber break in 2019, the company again suffered a fiber break last year, but continued uninterrupted thanks to the microwave links.

Baden Cloud also offers services from a TelemaxX data center in Karlsruhe. Q-Fox also operates a fiber and microwave network through its Link2Air unit.

StartkLahr is a business park being built on the site of Lahr Airfield, which dates back to 1913.

“Great news for Lahr and the entire region!” StartKLahr said on LinkedIn. “We are very pleased about the start of construction of the data center in startkLahrAreal and the forward-looking development at the site.”