Closure of the Coal Storage Facility Announced
In an exciting development for Pforzheim, Germany, the city's former coal bunker is set to become the future home of a modern data center. The transformation project, which has not been given a specific timeline for completion, was announced today with the signing of a contract transferring the coal bunker from Stadtwerke Pforzheim to a project company led by Jan Weber, CEO and owner of Weber Ingenieure.
The coal bunker, a massive concrete structure that has been out of use since 2021, will undergo a gutting process while preserving the building substance. This will make way for a "box in a box" concept, where the data center infrastructure will be installed in the resulting space. Weber Ingenieure, known for their significant computing power requirements for artificial intelligence applications, plans to use the coal bunker for this purpose.
The energy needed for the data center will be purchased from the Stadtwerke, and the waste heat generated by the data center could be used for district heating. This could potentially include the future Wartberg swimming pool, making the project environmentally friendly and cost-effective. The Stadtwerke may incur costs if unused waste heat is not utilized due to environmental reasons, but by utilizing the waste heat, they could effectively save costs.
An additional building on the coal bunker is planned to connect to the Stadtwerke's heating network. The goal is to submit the building application in May 2025, depending on approval processes. If all goes according to plan, a construction start could be possible in 2026, with the inauguration in 2027, subject to existing monument protection.
The transaction for the coal bunker was made for a "multi-million amount," but the exact figure was not disclosed by Stadtwerke CEO Herbert Marquard. Jan Weber and his wife Maria Weber are the investors behind the project company acquiring the coal bunker.
While the latest news and publications do not mention this project or related developments in Pforzheim, those interested in the current status of the coal bunker's transformation into a modern data center may want to check local Pforzheim news sources, the city’s official communications, or the websites of companies involved in the redevelopment of the coal bunker into a data center for more information.
- The modern data center, set to be housed in the former coal bunker, will require substantial computing power, a need that Weber Ingenieure, led by Jan Weber, is well-equipped to meet, given their experience in artificial intelligence applications.
- For the data center's energy needs, Weber Ingenieure will purchase from Stadtwerke Pforzheim, with the potential for the waste heat generated by the data center to be utilized for district heating, reducing costs for Stadtwerke and potentially heating the future Wartberg swimming pool.
- The project company, led by Jan Weber, plans to link an additional building to Stadtwerke's heating network, with the aim of submitting the building application in May 2025, potentially leading to a construction start in 2026 and inauguration in 2027, subject to approval processes and monument protection regulations.
