Equinix is aiming for a connection capacity of 80 megawatts and annual electricity use of 779 million kilowatt-hours, comparable to the 807 million kilowatt-hours of the Westpoort data center. By comparison, all Amsterdam households combined used 869 million kilowatt-hours in 2024. For the first tower, Equinix has also requested 274 million litres of drinking water per year for cooling, rising to 1,095 million litres once the full data center is built.

A construction freeze on data centers, introduced because of the overloaded electricity grid, means Equinix can build no more than a quarter of the complex for now. Only once new Tennet high-voltage substations around the city are completed, at the earliest in 2036, will capacity free up for the remaining three towers.

Where the Pure DC data center in Westpoort was rented out entirely to Microsoft for AI computing capacity before construction even began, Equinix is positioning its new data center differently: its capacity will go to a range of Amsterdam-based organisations, from fintech start-ups to government agencies and research institutions. City councillor Alexander Scholtes earlier this year called it undesirable that the Westpoort data center was rented in full to a single American company, as Amsterdam seeks more control over critical digital infrastructure such as scarce data center capacity, at a time when global demand for AI applications is absorbing an increasing share of available computing power.

The data center will become part of the new residential district rising on Amstel III, which will eventually include up to eight thousand homes. Equinix is making its residual heat available free of charge for a district heating network, and is transferring the land around the data center to the municipality for neighbourhood facilities.