Municipal authorities in the state of Hesse, western Germany, have approved the construction of a new data center.

The facility developed by the developer Revikon in the town of Gießen will occupy six hectares (14 acres) and create 200 permanent jobs.

The data center will cost more than €1 billion ($1.1bn) and is designed to consume up to 65MW of power – more than the town it’s being built in, according to reporting by DataCenterInsider.

DCD has approached Revikon for comment.

Although 38 of 57 council members in Gießen voted in favour of the data center, not everyone is happy with the decision. Critics said that the facility’s construction would generate unnecessary traffic-related disruption in the area, reported Der neue Landbote, and called for a rally protesting the development on 13 September.

Speaking to Hessenschau, professor of energy economics and energy systems at the nearby Technical University of Central Hesse, Stefan Lechner, also criticised the size of the new development. “I think it’s too big,” said Lechner. “And let’s be clear: it’s being built this large because it’s more profitable.”

Gießen’s new data center will be built on a 16.75-hectare (41-acre) plot west of the town known as Katzenfeld. Construction of the facility is scheduled to start toward the end of this year, said DataCenterInsider, though the facility’s operator has yet to be chosen. That decision will be made by both Revikon and Gießen’s municipal authorities, allowing for further technical refinement of the data center’s design. The developer has previously announced plans to use waste heat from the site to warm local homes, though critics have previously questioned whether demand for such a system exists in the area.

If built, this would be Gießen’s first data center. Though developers’ interest in building new facilities in Hesse remains strong, this year has shown that municipal support for them is not guaranteed.

In July, a €3 billion ($3.4bn) development by Stack Infrastructure in Babenhausen was cancelled after the firm encountered opposition from local government. This was preceded in February by the refusal of the Groß-Gerau city council to let US data center operator Vantage build a new €2.5 billion ($2.97bn) data center outside the town.

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