maincubes, a leading developer and operator of data centres in Europe, has acquired a 14-hectare plot of land in Nauen (Havelland) on the outskirts of Berlin. The site will host a campus of modern data centres designed for cloud services, High-Performance Computing and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The first phase of the development is set to begin in 2025 with the construction of the first building.
The planned campus (BER02) will feature a grid supply connection of 200MW. For maincubes, BER02 represents the next step in serving its growing contingent of international hyperscale customers, following the successful commencement of the FRA03 site and the acquisition of a brownfield location south of Frankfurt (FRA04) in 2024.
Following over 12 months of highly productive cooperation between maincubes and the AM:PM Grund Group (the Nauen campus project developer), along with a joint planning team, relevant authorities within the city of Nauen and the state of Brandenburg, has enabled swift progress in securing zoning rights and grid connection for the future campus. Thanks to the collaborative efforts of all parties, the project will meet critical requirements for the development of the new campus.
The legally binding development plan is expected to be finalised by the end of this year, with work on the new on-site substation starting immediately thereafter.
Additionally, there are also plans to feed existing and future renewable energy generated by solar and wind power plants. This includes the Nauener Platte directly into the new substation, which potentially – in combination with a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) – could provide a direct renewable generation source to the data centre campus.
Furthermore, the campus plans for waste heat generated to be made available to the city of Nauen and other users through a heating network. The site provides ideal conditions for a more sustainable data centre campus development.
Construction expected to start in Summer 2025
“Digitalisation, cloud services and AI present transformative opportunities for our economy and society in general, but to fully unlock this potential, we need secure and sustainable data centres – and this is exactly what drives us,” said Oliver Menzel, CEO of maincubes. “Our new location in Nauen is an ideal step toward achieving this vision. Strategically situated near Berlin, which is quickly becoming Germany’s second major digital infrastructure hub alongside the Rhine-Main area, and well supported by regionally generated renewable energy, it aligns perfectly with our mission to create the smartest places for our digital future.”
Patrick Lieberkühn, Managing Director of the AM:PM Grund Group, added: “We are delighted to have found in maincubes a professional, solution-oriented partner with an understanding and appreciation of local conditions and will work with us to advance renewable energy and sustainable development for the data centre industry in this region.”
Construction is scheduled to begin in Summer 2025, with the first data centre of the BER02 campus expected to be operational by the end of 2027. This new facility underscores maincubes’ growth ambitions: pursuing four major construction projects in the Rhine-Main region and Berlin/Brandenburg, which will collectively provide over 250MW of data centre capacity in the coming years.
