Summary
- Data Center Group is starting site work on an approximately 11,000 sq m data centre development in Hofheim-Marxheim.
- The project is designed for up to 30MVA of electrical connection capacity and phased delivery, with operation planned from Q1 2028.
- The design aligns with EN 50600 Availability Class 3 requirements and is intended to make a double-digit share of waste heat available for possible reuse.
Data Center Group is starting site work on a new data centre in Hofheim-Marxheim near Frankfurt, with the project designed for up to 30MVA of electrical connection capacity and operation planned from the first quarter of 2028.
The German engineering and construction group says the development occupies an approximately 11,000 sq m site and will be delivered in phases as demand grows. Its 5 October announcement describes the customer as a major international data centre operator entering Germany, while earlier public project material has identified Prime Data Centers as a partner in the Hofheim development.
The 30MVA figure is the maximum electrical connection capacity, not a disclosed critical IT load. The distinction matters because conversion losses, cooling, pumps, fans and other facility systems consume part of the electrical supply before power reaches customer computing equipment.
Starting work moves Hofheim beyond the land and planning stages, but the project’s public timetable has changed during development. Earlier materials anticipated operation during 2027, while the current DCG announcement gives Q1 2028 as the planned operating start. The latest dated source therefore provides the appropriate commissioning target.
The facility is being designed for denser computing
DCG says the technical design is aligned with EN 50600 Availability Class 3 alongside the operator’s own project requirements. That describes the resilience target shaping the facility design rather than an independent certification of a building that has not yet been commissioned.
Increasing power densities are also built into the design. Higher rack loads change the electrical and mechanical design together: more power has to move through switchgear, busways and distribution equipment, while the resulting heat has to be removed from a similar floor area.
Developing the facility in phases allows those systems to be brought into service as capacity is required instead of installing the entire eventual load on opening day. Phasing can align capital expenditure more closely with customer demand, although the common infrastructure still has to be designed so later expansion does not repeatedly disrupt live halls.
Hofheim sits within the wider Frankfurt/Rhine-Main data centre region, where network access remains attractive but suitable land and electrical capacity are increasingly constrained. The site is outside the most established Frankfurt districts, illustrating how development is spreading across the metropolitan area in search of workable combinations of power, planning and connectivity.
Heat reuse is being enabled rather than guaranteed
The project is designed, according to DCG, to make a double-digit percentage of generated waste heat available for possible future use. That wording is narrower than a commitment that the heat will be consumed: the facility can provide the technical interface, but an external user and distribution route are still required.
A viable heat reuse scheme depends on the temperature available from the cooling system, the distance to the heat user and the pattern of local heat demand. Data centre output becomes relatively continuous as IT occupancy rises, while building or district heating requirements vary seasonally. Pipework, pumps and any temperature uplift also require investment outside the server halls.
The plans call for externally sourced electricity to be matched with power generated from renewable sources. That procurement position does not alter the facility’s physical requirement for a secure grid connection of up to 30MVA, but it affects how the operator intends to account for the electricity it buys.
Earlier public descriptions of the Hofheim project also identify liquid and air cooling in the planned technical mix. The current announcement does not give rack density thresholds or a split between those cooling modes, so it would be premature to assign a particular thermal architecture to the completed building.
The project’s history illustrates another feature of large data centre delivery: ownership, customer identity and timetables can evolve before construction. Public materials from DCG and Süwag previously named Prime Data Centers, while the latest construction release refers only to an international operator. The underlying site, connection envelope and Hofheim-Marxheim location are consistent across those accounts.
That makes the construction milestone more useful than the marketing description. Ground activity is beginning, the project has a defined site and maximum connection capacity, and DCG now gives Q1 2028 as the planned start of operations. Those are measurable development stages even while the precise IT load and customer ramp remain undisclosed.
Frankfurt’s surrounding municipalities are likely to see more projects assessed in the same way as the central market tightens. The decisive questions will be less about proximity to the city name and more about whether each location can secure power, consent and network connectivity on a timetable that matches customer demand.
Hofheim now has a construction programme against which those claims can be tested. The next milestones will be the progress of the phased build, energisation of the electrical connection and confirmation of how much customer IT capacity is ready when the facility enters service.
