Data Centres in the Netherlands Now Use as Much Power as 2 Million Homes

Data centres in the Netherlands are consuming vast amounts of electricity, with usage now roughly equal to the annual power needs of almost 2 million homes: nearly 5,100 gigawatt hours (GWh) of electricity in 2024, according to new data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).

That figure represents about 4.6% of the country’s total electricity consumption, up from roughly 3.3% in 2021, as data centre demand continues to grow with the expansion of digital services and cloud computing.

The Netherlands has around 200 data centres, most clustered near Amsterdam and other major tech hubs. While the number of large facilities consuming over 10 GWh hasn’t changed much, their total power usage has nearly quadrupled over the past decade, rising from around 1,300 GWh ten years ago to more than 4,700 GWh in 2024. Smaller facilities accounted for a relatively stable share of consumption.

This growth reflects increasing demand for digital infrastructure such as cloud services, streaming, artificial intelligence workloads, and enterprise computing: all of which rely on large server farms that run around the clock. The rising consumption also mirrors trends seen internationally, where data centres are among the fastest-growing segments of electricity demand.

The rising electricity use by data centres is already challenging the Dutch power infrastructure. Several reports warn that surging demand from data centres, driven especially by AI and cloud services, is putting pressure on the national grid, which is also coping with electrification in transport, industry and heat demand.

Municipalities like Amsterdam have voiced concerns about the “power hunger” of data centres, proposing limits on further expansion in some areas to ensure households and other sectors aren’t deprived of capacity.

Data centres are not just energy consumers; they are also economic drivers. The digital infrastructure sector contributes significantly to jobs, innovation and the national economy, with investments expected to grow sharply in the coming years.

However, the rapid rise in energy use raises sustainability questions. While many data centres in the Netherlands increasingly use green energy contracts and pursue efficiency improvements, the sheer scale of consumption means they remain a major factor in national electricity demand.

As the digital economy expands, planners face a balancing act: supporting the growth of data centre capacity (crucial for cloud computing, fintech, AI development and digital services) while ensuring the power grid can handle the demand without compromising households or industrial consumers.

Policymakers, grid operators and industry stakeholders are now discussing strategies to integrate data centres more sustainably, such as incentives for renewable power, use of residual heat, and investments in grid flexibility. Without such coordination, continued growth in data centre electricity consumption could increasingly strain both infrastructure and climate goals.