Dutch climate agitators have taken responsibility for an attack on an under-construction data center facility in Amsterdam, in which they threw water balloons filled with acid at the facility’s foundation.
In a message posted by the Dutch arm of Extinction Rebellion, a climate activist group, the group claimed responsibility for the attack. The group said that overnight Thursday, members threw a mixture of hydrogen peroxide, acetic acid, salt, and acrylic paint with the aim of degrading the concrete foundation and accelerating the corrosion of steel used to reinforce the structure.
The group called data centers "unnecessary, disastrous for the climate," and claimed that they play "a role in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians." Extinction Rebellion spokesperson Martijn Dekker said, "The climate and ecological crisis cannot be viewed in isolation from Israel's genocide of the Palestinians or the fight against the destructive effects of AI." He added, "We must join forces and resist the anti-democratic power of this small group of the very wealthiest. Stopping the construction of this data center is a necessary step in that regard."
Per The Register, the facility under construction near Amsterdam’s Sloterdijk Station is being built by the UK-based Pure Data Centers Group. The facility, once completed, will include three 297-foot towers, with the site capacity being 78 megawatts. The site has its own power substation. While Pure DC has not revealed who the lessee of the facility is, local news has reported that Microsoft is the facility’s sole occupant.
Pure DC has said that the attack had no impact on construction, and they intend to seek charges against those responsible.
Extinction Rebellion argued that the site has weaponized a loophole "to circumvent the rules banning so-called 'hyperscalers,'" and will "consume a gigantic amount of power in an area that already suffers from power shortages."
