Retail group Schwarz is building an AI data center worth up to €5.6 billion in Dummerstorf near Rostock. By 2033, the site is set to reach 240 megawatts of connected capacity, with a later expansion to one gigawatt under consideration. The state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is backing the project with up to €120 million in funding.
Wind power and district heating shape the site
The plot sits eight kilometers from Rostock at the A19/A20 motorway junction, close to the Bentwisch converter station that links to offshore wind power. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern generates far more electricity from wind and solar than it consumes. The data center is meant to run mostly on that wind power, connect to the extra-high-voltage grid, and cool its servers with air rather than water. Construction is expected to start in 2027.
Server waste heat is meant to feed part of Rostock’s district heating network: under a letter of intent with the local utility, it could cover around 40 percent of the city’s heat demand. Company figures put ongoing operations at roughly 120 permanent, highly skilled jobs in the region (independently unverified). Developer Freo Group had originally planned an even larger AI data center of up to 1.2 gigawatts on the site before passing it on to Schwarz. The municipality of Dummerstorf had already adjusted its plans for the “Ostsee 3.0” commercial zone toward a data center project back in October 2025. A publicly confirmed, complete building permit for the actual project has not been issued so far.
The build initially covers the group’s own needs
Schwarz Digits says the capacity is meant for the group’s own use for now – for data from supply chains, orders, payments and loyalty programs at Lidl and Kaufland. Group CEO Gerd Chrzanowski tied the investment to the goal of digital sovereignty: “Digital sovereignty comes from concrete action, from reliable infrastructure and practical applications.” Observers do not rule out a later opening of the capacity to external cloud and AI customers via the in-house Stackit brand, though that has not been officially confirmed.
Schwarz Digits is simultaneously building another data center on the site of a former coal plant in Lübbenau, Brandenburg. That site is planned with about 200 megawatts of capacity, roughly €11 billion in investment, and completion targeted for late 2027. The division recently grew revenue by 16 percent to €2.2 billion, while the wider group posted around €185.6 billion in revenue for 2025. Stackit positions itself as a European alternative to the cloud offerings of Amazon, Microsoft and Google, pitching government agencies and regulated industries on data processing under German law.
The site is also bidding for an EU gigafactory
Schwarz Digits is reportedly one of around 60 bidders across the EU for one of up to seven AI gigafactories. The EU joint undertaking EuroHPC opened its call for these in late July 2026, with more than €30 billion expected in investment, at least €20 billion of it private. Deutsche Telekom and cloud provider Ionos together with construction firm Hochtief are also among the German bidders; an earlier attempt at a joint German bid had fallen apart. The federal government had already raised its own funding pledge for a German gigafactory to one billion euros to improve German bidders’ odds against European rivals.
Bids are due by November 12, 2026, and the European Commission is expected to select sites in early 2027. Minister-President Manuela Schwesig, presenting the project at the state chancellery in Schwerin, said it ties her state’s renewable energy more closely to digitalization. Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger had only days earlier conceded that Germany is aiming for third or fourth place at best in the global AI race – partly because of the country’s still-weak computing capacity.
Whether the European Commission actually picks Dummerstorf as one of the seven gigafactories, or the site simply grows on the back of Schwarz’s own investment, remains open. For the eastern German region as much as for Germany’s computing capacity overall, widely seen as lagging internationally, winning the bid would be an added boost. The decision is not expected before early 2027.
