A large data center is being planned by a mystery developer outside the town of Wilhelmshaven in the region of Lower Saxony, northern Germany.

According to NWZ Online, which broke the story, the firm has proposed constructing a data center and an energy park in the nearby village of Sengwarden.

Though the precise purpose and compute power of the proposed facility has not been revealed, the overall cost of the project is estimated to run into the billions of euros. DCD has approached the town of Wilhelmshaven for comment.

Few additional details about the project have been released by the municipality, though NWZ Online said that the new data center would be built to connect to a district heating system. Details of the development were first revealed during a meeting of Wilhelmshaven’s Committee for Economic Affairs, Tourism and Ports, which included an agenda item about the sale of a plot of land through a concept-based framework.

Unlike normal land tenders run by the city, which involve a bidding process, the result of a concept-based award is based on the judgement of a jury as to the specific merits of a development proposal. These can include the long-term environmental sustainability of the project and its potential for generating tax revenue.

The data center market in Lower Saxony has remained small in comparison with that in nearby Hamburg and Frankfurt, with nine planned and operational facilities listed by DataCenters.com.

According to NWZ Online, Wilhelmshaven itself also hosts one facility supporting the enterprise resource planning software for the German Armed Forces. A 500MW facility is also being planned by renewable energy developer Telis Energie Deutschland outside the town of Mehrum, near the city of Hanover. The 4.09 million sq ft (380,000 sqm) campus will host six 25-meter-high (82 ft) buildings with an anticipated completion date of 2030.

Learn more about the data center market in Switzerland and the wider DACH region, and meet with other executives and experts at the DCN Zurich event later this year.