Data Centers in Heerlen

Heerlen – Strategic European Connectivity Hub

Executive Summary

Heerlen is an excellent market for enterprises that require a strategic secondary data center location in the Benelux region, with low-latency connectivity to both Germany and Belgium. It provides a resilient and cost-effective alternative to the primary Amsterdam market, making it ideal for disaster recovery, edge computing, and serving the dense tri-border population. This location helps ensure operational uptime and secures service delivery across Western Europe.

Heerlen: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality With 3 data center facilities as of September 2025, Heerlen provides access to a focused group of regional and national carriers. The market supports carrier-neutral interconnection, allowing businesses to choose the best provider for their needs without being locked into a single network.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps Heerlen has 0 direct cloud on-ramps as of September 2025. Secure, low-latency connections to all major cloud providers, including AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, are established through network extensions to the primary hub in Amsterdam.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) Most peering occurs privately or through the national exchange point, AMS-IX, located in Amsterdam. This centralized peering architecture ensures efficient and resilient traffic exchange across the Netherlands and the rest of Europe.

Bare Metal Bare metal solutions are readily available from providers with a strong European presence, such as Leaseweb and OVHcloud. These services offer dedicated, high-performance server configurations for compute-intensive workloads.

Power Analysis

Average Cost Of Power Industrial power costs in the Heerlen area range from €0.18 – €0.22/kWh, as of September 2025. These stable energy prices support predictable operational expenditures for high-density deployments and large-scale computing environments.

Power Grid Reliability The Netherlands' national power grid is highly reliable and modern. Data centers in the region are typically supported by redundant power feeds from multiple substations, ensuring high levels of uptime for critical operations. The grid incorporates a growing mix of renewables, with approximately 40% of its energy derived from these sources as of September 2025.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Proximity To Key Business Districts Data centers in Heerlen are strategically located to serve the tri-border area, supporting logistics, high-tech manufacturing, and service industries in South Limburg, Aachen (Germany), and Liège (Belgium). This proximity enables low-latency services for a diverse and economically active region.

Regional Market Reach Heerlen provides excellent low-latency reach to over 20 million people across the Netherlands, Belgium, and western Germany. This makes it a highly effective location for content delivery, edge computing, and regional disaster recovery strategies.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers The Netherlands offers a stable and predictable tax environment but does not provide specific tax breaks for data center development or operation. The primary financial advantage comes from operating within a pro-business EU jurisdiction that has world-class digital and physical infrastructure.

Natural Disaster Risk

Heerlen has a low overall disaster risk profile, with a score of 2.5 out of 10, as of September 2025. While the Netherlands has a high national risk score for coastal flooding, Heerlen's inland location mitigates this direct threat. The primary environmental hazards for the immediate region are:

• River Flooding: The area has exposure to river flooding, which is managed by extensive national water defense systems.
• Seismic Activity: Minor earthquake risk is present but is low in magnitude.

Modern data center construction and national infrastructure planning effectively address these manageable risks.