Microsoft is building a €2bn data centre in Noord Holland province, in the heart of the region’s agricultural area, the Financieele Dagblad said on Tuesday.

The work is being carried out in relative secrecy, screened off by fences running along the Agriport business park just off the A7 motorway, the paper said.

Microsoft has been attracted by the cheap land, the good glass fibre infrastructure and sufficient energy supplies, the FD said.

However, the project itself is fairly hush hush and all the companies involved in the work have been told not to talk in public about their roles. In negotiations with the local Hollands Kroon council, the project has been given the code name Orange, the FD said.

Work on the project began in 2014 and the first data centre has already been completed. Three more are now being built and experts say the completed site will be the biggest data centre in Europe.

The FD says there are more than 180 data hotels in the Netherlands, accounting for 30% of European storage capacity. Google is currently building a massive centre in Eemshaven.