Green light for Google

The Luxembourg government has unlocked a 33 hectare-site earmarked for a giant data centre for Google, after a final landowner agreed to sell.

The US tech giant announced in mid-July that it wanted to build a data centre in Luxembourg and needed about 30 hectares of land.

However, creating a 30 hectare-site proved difficult as one of three co-owners of a 1.8 hectare piece of land refused to sell to the government.

The obstacle has now been lifted and the owner has been convinced to surrender the site, Economics Minister Etienne Schneider confirmed on Tuesday morning.

Schneider said the figures were slightly higher: a two hectare piece of land would have been missing. Now that this question has been settled, the government can provide Google with 33 hectares.

The final decision, whether Google chooses the industrial zone "Kléngbousbierg" for the centre, is still to be made in the US – where Prime Minister Xavier Bettel will be visiting on a diplomatic mission in two weeks.

A preliminary contract would then be signed at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, California.

(Wort staff)