European data centre protests reach Microsoft construction site

Protesters entered a construction site for a Microsoft data centre in Amsterdam on November 6, prompting a police intervention. On-the-scene reporting by AS Media described participants climbing the fence and a crane. The action coincided with a European campaign calling for a pause in large data centre developments while their effects on communities are examined.

Local public broadcaster AT5 reported a police estimate of 150 to 200 arrests on suspicion of trespassing. Police said the property owner had filed a complaint and protesters had been given an opportunity to leave. The broadcaster also described a separate demonstration outside the site. The arrest figure was a police estimate at that stage. AT5 also reported that police arranged city transport operator GVB’s buses to move detainees for identification and questioning. Its afternoon coverage described both voluntary departures and people removed by officers near an excavator.

Reuters reported that site owner Pure DC urged demonstrators to leave safely and offered dialogue. Microsoft said it respected peaceful expression but did not condone unlawful actions or conduct that endangered safety.

A pause and a say over new infrastructure

The Stop Dirty Data Centres campaign designated November 6 and 7 as joint action days. Its demands address electricity, water and land use, alongside effects on public infrastructure and housing. Its public event map also lists dates outside those two days, so a listing cannot establish how many demonstrations actually took place during the coordinated action.

Fossielvrij NL's November 3 announcement scheduled a support demonstration at noon on November 6 on Plimsollweg in Amsterdam. The programme included a teach-in by University of Amsterdam lecturers on data centres, democracy and AI. The group argued that democratic decisions about AI's uses should precede decisions about how much infrastructure to build.

The supporting Green Web Foundation described a campaign backed by nearly 100 groups. It called for moratoria at EU, national and local levels until environmental, democratic and social impacts had been scrutinised. Its staff planned to join events in Bristol, Berlin and Vienna. Those statements describe a demand and intended participation. The foundation also questioned the rationale for tripling European data centre capacity and how existing infrastructure is used. It sought an explanation of how rapid expansion could fit climate, energy and democratic commitments.

The developer’s grid and cooling plans

Pure DC’s November 6 statement describes AMS01 in Amsterdam’s Westpoort as a 78MW campus. It plans €9 million in grid reinforcement, with €1.5 million funding port-area metering.

It says cooling uses non-potable surface and river water via Waternet. Waste-heat export is planned, with Vattenfall heat-exchange design under way. The statement describes designs, without operating results.

Amsterdam said on November 6 that a letter bearing its logo, about Sloterdijk’s Donauweg data centre, was false. The city rejected its claims about 30,000 fewer homes, power cuts and noise.

Planning alderman Alexander Scholtes acknowledged concerns about technology companies and condemned the logo’s misuse. He called for factual debate under speakers’ own names.