West Des Moines, IA · Polk County County · 41.551°N 93.782°W
Microsoft Project Ginger West Data Center
Microsoft
Key facts
- Location
- West Des Moines, IA, Polk County County
- Capacity
- —
- Powered by
- —
- Announced
- 2021
- Last updated
Civic impact
Economics
- Investment
- $1.7B
- Land
- 188 acres
Energy & water
- Energy source
- Grid
- Cooling
- Hybrid
Iowa wind and renewables; Microsoft contracts 100% carbon-free electricity for Iowa operations
Microsoft's West Des Moines datacenters use direct evaporative cooling (water ~10% of the year, air-cooled the rest); a planned Ginger West building is committed to next-generation 'zero-water' cooling under WDM's 2023 policy favoring reduced peak water use. Microsoft's WDM fleet (five campuses) used ~70M gallons in 2024 (fleet-wide, not Ginger West-specific); Microsoft funded ~$25M in WDM Water Works improvements incl. a 2M-gallon tank.
Community sentiment
WDM Mayor Russ Trimble has praised Microsoft as a 'game changer' and 'great corporate citizens' (never exceeding agreed water allotments); neighboring residents cite light pollution, traffic, noise, and water-use concerns. No formal opposition group or litigation identified.
Microsoft built 5 data center campuses in this Iowa city. Here's what Wisconsin can expect.Status history
- Proposed
West Des Moines approved first two buildings of Ginger West; construction start targeted September 2021
Microsoft Project Ginger West data center in West Des Moines gets planning approval - Under construction
Construction underway; first building came online 2023 (244,676 sq ft); additional phases ongoing targeting summer 2028 completion
Ginger West datacenter construction update — Microsoft Local
Location
Sources & data provenance
Reported: data based on credible news outlets or industry sources.
Last updated:
- MicrosoftRetrieved:
- Data Center DynamicsRetrieved:
- Axios Des MoinesRetrieved:
- Wisconsin Public RadioRetrieved:
Compute Atlas is community-correctable. If you have better data, please open an issue.
Suggest a correction →