Summary
- Extinction Rebellion reported a second action against the Amsterdam Sloterdijk construction site overnight on 15–16 October.
- The site's developer, Pure DC, previously reported no significant damage following a similar incident in July; the October outcome remains unverified.
- The 78MW campus is fully leased, but its data halls remain under construction and should not be described as operating capacity.
Environmental campaign group Extinction Rebellion Netherlands says activists have again attempted to interfere with the foundations of a data centre under construction near Amsterdam Sloterdijk station, three months after a similar incident at the same development.
In a statement issued on 16 October, the organisation said members had thrown balloons containing a chemical mixture towards the building’s foundations overnight on 15–16 October. The group claimed that the substance could damage construction materials, but no independent engineering assessment has established that structural damage occurred.
The development is being constructed by Pure Data Centres Group in Amsterdam Westpoort, with Microsoft identified as the tenant in earlier Dutch reporting. Pure DC has confirmed that the proposed campus is fully leased, although its own project description does not publicly name the customer.
The October action follows an incident on 16 July, when the campaign group reported carrying out a similar intervention. Local reporting subsequently stated that Pure DC had found no significant damage after that earlier incident.
That finding cannot establish the outcome of the latest action. Neither an October site inspection report nor a confirmed assessment of construction delays has been identified in the available evidence.
Construction condition remains unverified
The campaign group’s announcement describes an attempt to affect a building’s foundations, rather than a measured change in the strength or condition of the structure.
Determining whether construction materials have been affected requires examination of the relevant components and the circumstances of exposure. The presence of a substance at a construction site does not establish that it reached structural elements or caused deterioration sufficient to require remedial work.
Concrete foundations and reinforcing steel are engineered as parts of a complete structural system. Their condition cannot reliably be assessed from a campaign statement or a photograph of an incident alone.
Where interference is suspected, the developer and its engineering advisers must determine whether additional inspection or testing is required. The resulting findings may affect decisions about subsequent work, although no such consequences have been confirmed for the October incident.
Data centre construction sites present security challenges before the installation of servers and permanent operational security systems. Different contractors require access during successive stages of building work, while materials and specialist equipment may be present before the site is fully enclosed.
The security arrangements needed during foundation construction consequently differ from those used at a completed facility. Operational data centres typically employ controlled access, monitoring and other protective measures, but those arrangements do not establish what security controls were in place during the reported incident.
There is also no verified evidence in the sources reviewed that the attempted interference caused an interruption to computing services. The affected development has not been reported as a completed operational campus.
Pure DC’s 78MW campus remains under construction
Pure DC describes its Amsterdam Westpoort development as a 78MW campus comprising three planned data centre towers, each containing 26MW of data halls.
The company reports that the towers will reach approximately 85 metres in height. Its project information also identifies a private substation connected to the 50kV grid, which it describes as already operational.
Construction of the data halls began in January 2026. The availability of the substation therefore represents a completed electrical infrastructure milestone, not proof that the full 78MW of computing capacity has entered service.
Pure DC states that the campus is fully leased and represents an investment exceeding €1 billion. Its financial commitment and leasing position are separate from completion of the buildings, installation of computing equipment and final commissioning.
The developer also identifies a target power usage effectiveness of 1.2. This is a design objective, not an independently measured operating performance figure for the completed campus.
The construction programme is continuing amid local and national concerns about electricity demand, land use and the development of large computing facilities. The project had already secured the relevant development permissions before recent restrictions on new data centres became the subject of further Dutch political debate.
Local reporting in January identified Microsoft as the tenant. That reporting provides a basis for describing the development as Microsoft-leased, while leaving the ownership and delivery responsibilities with Pure DC.
Campaign continues ahead of November protests
Extinction Rebellion has linked the October intervention to further demonstrations planned for 6 and 7 November, when campaign groups intend to protest against data centre developments in several European locations.
The organisation objects to the electricity, water and environmental requirements associated with large computing facilities. Those concerns are separate from the question of whether its reported actions have affected the condition of the Amsterdam development.
Project-specific environmental performance requires evidence about connected electrical load, cooling arrangements, water consumption and actual operating conditions. The campaign’s wider objections do not establish those measurements for the unfinished Westpoort campus.
The latest reported action leaves two separate issues outstanding: whether the developer has identified any physical consequences requiring additional work, and whether security arrangements will change during the remaining construction programme.
Until Pure DC or another independently accountable authority publishes further findings, the confirmed record consists of the campaign group’s account of its action, the developer’s previously disclosed construction status and the absence of a verified assessment of October damage.
