Data Center Investment News — 17/11/2023
DLR’s Teraco edges on 200MW portfolio with Cape Town data centre expansion
Digital Realty’s (NYSE: DLR) owned Africa data centre operator Teraco said it will add an extra 30 megawatt (MW) to its CT2 hyperscale facility in Brackenfell, Cape Town, South Africa.
The group said the facility expansion caters for the increasing demand by enterprise customers and hyperscale cloud providers for data centre capacity.
CT2 Phase 2 construction has commenced with the new capacity scheduled to be available in the first quarter of 2025.
The expansion will comprise 73,000 square metres and comprise four data halls of 5.3 megawatts (MW), two data halls of 3.1MW, and a further two data halls of 2.2MW.
Set to be built over three levels upon completion, the entire CT2 facility will support a total IT load of 50MW.
The building has incorporated cooling designs with a closed-loop chilled water system that offers 100% free air cooling, according to the company.
Vantage Data Centers names new President and CFO for APAC
Hyperscale operator Vantage Data Centers has grown its executive leadership in APAC with the appointment of several new executives.
Raymond Tong has joined Vantage as President, APAC to oversee Vantage’s business including expansion, operations and strategy in the Asia Pacific market.
He will work closely with incoming Chief Financial Officer, APAC Joel Cheah who leads Vantage’s APAC finance and accounting teams.
Tong has more than 25 years of business and management experience to Vantage’s APAC business.
He joins the company from SUNeVision Holdings Ltd., the largest data centre operator in Hong Kong, where he served for five years as chief executive officer and executive director of the board.
Malaysia to host STT GDC’s 120MW data centre
ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has announced plans to develop a second data centre campus in Malaysia.
The new Johor campus will be built on over 22 acres of land and will support up to 120 megawatts of critical IT capacity.
It will be located in the Nusa Cemerlang Industrial Park in Iskandar Puteri, at the southern tip of the Malaysia Peninsula and approximately 15 kilometres from Singapore.
Construction of the first building supporting 16MW in IT load will commence in the coming months and is expected to be completed by 2025.
Earlier this month, STT GDC announced its market entry into Malaysia through a partnership with Basis Bay to develop the joint venture partnership’s first data centre campus in Cyberjaya.
Elea Digital expands Rio de Janeiro data centre with $20 million investment
Brazilian data centre provider Elea Digital has recently unveiled the inauguration of its expansion project at the RJO1 data centre.
This expansion, involving an investment of R$100 million (approximately US$19.74 million), signifies Elea Digital’s commitment to strengthening its presence in the data centre industry.
The expansion project adds 500 square metres (5,382 square feet) of data centre space and increases IT capacity to 2.5 megawatts (MW). Located in the bustling heart of Rio de Janeiro, this data centre is strategically situated within the second-largest data centre hub in Brazil, close to the Olympic area. The expansion plans were first disclosed in June 2023, reflecting Elea Digital’s response to the growing demand for data services in the region.
With this expansion, the RJO1 data centre can now accommodate an additional 200 racks, bringing its total capacity to 5MW. Notably, the RJO1 data centre is carrier-neutral and features connections to the Brazilian Internet Exchange. It has been certified as Tier III by the Uptime Institute and holds a Gold rating from the US Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.
Stonepeak-backed Cirion to build out São Paulo data centre campus amidst AI boom
Cirion Technologies, a digital infrastructure and technology provider, has announced the expansion of its data centre complex in São Paulo (SAO1) with a new 3,600 square-meter building, increasing total capacity by 50%.
The site is enabled to host workloads that require high density, including various AI, gaming, and machine learning, among others.
Cirion is backed by Stonepeak, an alternative investment firm specialized in infrastructure and real assets, with approximately US$57 billion of assets under management and a broad portfolio of communications and digital infrastructure investments around the world.
The expansion of the SAO1 complex in Cotia, São Paulo has been designed to meet the needs of hyperscalers, carriers, and content providers.
Both buildings in the SAO1 complex share a 20MW power substation, with redundant high-voltage line inputs.
Construction begins on new Green data centres at Zurich’s metro-campus
Green, a Swiss data centre provider, announced the next phase of its project in Dielsdorf, Zurich’s Metro-Campus. These new data centres will cover 11,600 square metres and accommodate around 4,000 server racks for up to 160,000 IT systems.
These data centres, labelled N and O, will generate waste heat, which will be utilised by Energie 360° for collaborative energy initiatives. Simultaneously, construction has begun on a heating centre and district heating network in Dielsdorf.
The expansion of the Metro-Campus Zurich is driven by an increased demand for data centre capacity, which is primarily due to data growth and digitalisation.
Companies are transitioning away from maintaining their own data centres due to the high costs associated with modernisation and sustainability. Instead, they are moving their systems to more efficient and sustainable data centres or the cloud.
Goldman Sachs’ Atman embarks on ambitious Warsaw-3 Data Center project in Poland
Polish data centre firm Atman has commenced the construction of a cutting-edge facility situated just outside the capital city of Warsaw.
Atman unveiled the commencement of work on Warsaw-3, also known as WAW-3, located in Duchnice. The first of three buildings within this expansive complex is anticipated to be operational by the fourth quarter of 2024.
First unveiled in December 2022, when fully completed, this 5.5-acre site will encompass three structures, boasting a combined colocation area spanning nearly 19,000 square metres (approximately 204,515 square feet), distributed across 36 data halls. The facility will offer a capacity of 43 megawatts.
Atman, owned by Goldman Sachs and Global Compute, heralded this as the company’s most extensive undertaking to date. The progression and deployment of further data centres and facilities will be contingent upon the demand from their clientele.
Equinix switches on $100m Dubai data centre extension
Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) has unveiled its DX3 International Business Exchange data centre in Dubai.
This centre is set to become the largest and most interconnected in the Gulf region.
AI was the focus of the development, as Equinix’s survey of 2,900 IT decision-makers revealed that 85% of respondents across the world were keen to benefit from AI’s advantages.
Additionally, the survey found that 77% of UAE IT leaders had IT infrastructures ready for AI, surpassing the global and EMEA averages.
Kamel Al-Tawil, Managing Director of Equinix MENA, addressed the potential of AI and Equinix’s role in facilitating transformation with DX3.
This data centre is located in Dubai Production City, and its investment is planned to exceed US$100 million. It is designed for energy efficiency and is expected to be powered by 100% renewable energy.
DataBank expands in the US with nearly 200-acre land acquisition
DataBank has acquired nearly 200 acres of land across two major US market aimed at meeting the growing regional demand for colocation space and power over the next decade.
Firstly, the group has acquired 85 acres of land in Culpeper, Virginia. The lot in Culpeper will become home to the new “Culpeper Campus” hosting up to three 2-story data centers that would add 1.4M gross square feet of space.
The site will also include a 300MW onsite sub-station from Dominion Energy capable of delivering 192MW of critical IT power when fully deployed.
Elsewhere, the company has purchased 95 acres of land near Lithia Springs in the Atlanta market. This expansion is aimed at meeting the growing regional demand for colocation space and power over the next decade.
The newly acquired 95-acre parcel of land is located within a half-mile of DataBank’s existing 18-acre property, where the construction of the ATL4 facility is currently underway.
DC BLOX initiates construction on 180MW data centre campus
DC BLOX, a provider of connected data centres and dark fibre solutions in the Southeastern United States, has recently acquired 55 acres of real estate in Douglasville, Georgia.
This strategic acquisition marks the commencement of construction on a 180MW data centre campus, set to address the ever-growing demand for digital infrastructure in the region.
The investment is significant, exceeding $1.2 billion and receiving substantial tax incentives through the collaboration with Elevate Douglas Economic Partnership.
The Douglasville data centre campus, located near Atlanta, will, according to the company, serve as a testament to its commitment to staying at the ‘forefront of emerging market requirements’.
The company says that it is dedicated to providing customisable design configurations, allowing tenants to adapt their space to the specific demands of advanced AI/ML applications and other requirements.
Stack Infrastructure unveils plans for $380m dual data centres near Atlanta, Georgia
Stack Infrastructure has announced plans to construct two data centres near Atlanta, Georgia.
The company submitted a Developments of Regional Impact filing to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for a new campus in Lithia Springs, Douglas County.
The project, named the Lithia Springs Data Centre, will consist of two three-story data centres at 808 Factory Shoals Road, each covering 146,380 square feet.
Developers for the project include SI ATL02A, LLC, associated with Stack Infrastructure, and Bohler Engineering. The project is expected to be completed by May 2026, with an estimated value of US$380.9 million.
Digital Realty, Realty Income form JV, eye up to $800m in data centre investments
REITs Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR) and Realty Income Corporation (NYSE: O), The Monthly Dividend Company, have established a joint venture (JV) to support the development of two build-to-suit data centres in Northern Virginia.
Realty Income invested approximately US$200 million to acquire an 80% equity interest in the venture, while Digital Realty maintains a 20% interest.
Each partner will fund its pro rata share of the remaining US$150 million estimated development cost for the first phase of the project, which is slated for completion in mid-2024.
The build-to-suit facilities were 100% pre-leased to an S&P 100 investment grade client prior to construction and are expected to generate a 6.9% initial cash lease yield upon lease commencement in mid-2024.
The facilities are subject to a 10-year initial lease term with extension options and 2.0% annual rent escalators.
Prologis & Skybox file for data centers in Austin, Texas
Real estate firm Prologis and data center company Skybox have filed to build two more data centers in Austin, Texas.
In two filings with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, the companies have filed to build Skybox – Austin 2 in Pflugerville in Travis County and Skybox – Hutto 1 in Hutto in Williamson County.
In Pflugerville, the companies aim to invest $63 million developing a 148,500 sq ft (13,800 sqm) shell and core data center, its second there. The proposed project would include a two-story office and single-story data center. Construction would run from December 2023 to October 2024.
In Hutto, the companies plan to invest $83 million developing a 253,730 sq ft ((23,575 sqm) data center at 4200 County Road 132. The proposed project – the first on the site – would include a two-story office and single-story data center. Construction would run from January 2024 to November 2024.
CtrlS plans 10MW data center in Uttarakhand, India
CtrlS is to build a data center in Uttarakhand in northeast India.
Local press reports that the company this week signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Uttarakhand government to set up an Edge data center in the state.
The proposed greenfield facility will reportedly be built over the next eight to ten years and will have a capacity of 10MW.
“CtrlS’ data center will be embedded into a larger digital ecosystem of the state, enabling the growth of data, infrastructure, and technology-driven businesses around our facility. We expect our proposed data center to facilitate an influx of direct and indirect investments to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore and generate around 1,000 jobs,” said Sridhar Pinnapureddy, chairman, CtrlS Datacenters Ltd.
SC Capital Partners’ Zeus DC plans data center in Osaka, Japan
APAC data center firm SC Zeus Data Centers has acquired land in Osaka, Japan.
The company, part of the SC Capital Partners Group, this week announced plans to develop a data center campus on the land.
Located “in close proximity” to Osaka’s central business district, the initial roll-out will offer 25MW of capacity in phase one. Timelines for delivery weren’t shared.
Joe Gooi, CEO of SC Zeus, said: “We are thrilled to announce the successful acquisition of our site in Osaka. This is another significant step in our journey, following the start of a hyperscale facility development in South Korea. It demonstrates our strong commitment to providing robust data center solutions in the APAC region.”