Data Center Investment News — 14/03/2025
Kao plans third data center at Harlow, UK, campus
Kao Data is expanding one of its London campuses with a new data center. The company this week announced KLON-03; a new, 17.6MW facility located at its Harlow campus, east of the capital city. Timelines for development weren’t shared.
The facility will offer direct-to-chip liquid cooling alongside traditional air-cooling. Each suite will include hybrid-cooled, hot aisle containment (HAC) systems, which can accommodate densities up to 130kW.
“This year marks ten years’ since our vision for the Harlow campus was first incepted, and I’m delighted that our concept continues to be vindicated, with Harlow firmly established as the UK’s preeminent destination for HPC, AI cloud, and GPU-supported deployments,” said David Bloom, founder and chairman, Kao Data. “KLON-03 will set a new bar for our industrial-scale data center platform, and in line with the government’s AI Opportunities Action Plan, will provide one of the country’s largest footprints of liquid-cooled data center capacity.”
The Harlow campus currently has two operational data centers – KLON-01 and 02 – each offering 10MW. Work began on the site’s second data center in March 2022 and was completed in late 2023. Nvidia’s Cambridge-1 supercomputer sits within Kao’s original Harlow facility.
Iren plans 75MW liquid-cooled AI data center in Texas
Crypto and AI data center firm IREN is planning to develop a 75MW AI data center in Texas.The company revealed the plans as part of its Q2 2025 earning report this week, also announcing another campus in Sweetwater, Texas.
IREN (also known as Iris Energy) is planning to deploy a new 75MW liquid-cooled data center for AI/HPC at its Childress site in Texas.The facility will be known as Horizon 1 and is set for completion in H2 2025. It will be designed to support 200kW per rack via direct-to-chip cooling to host Nvidia Blackwell GPUs.
The company said it intends to invest $300-350 million in the project. The 420-acre Childress site totals 750MW, with some 450MW currently energized. Around 675MW of the site – located outside Childress County, Texas – is currently earmarked for Bitcoin mining.
IREN is also planning a new 600MW site known as Sweetwater 2. Energization on the 500-acre site – located outside Sweetwater in Fisher County, West Texas – is expected in 2028. Energization of the 1.4GW Sweetwater 1 site is on-track for April 2026. At full build-out, the two Sweetwater sites are set to total 2GW. Design work is underway for a direct fiber loop between Sweetwater 1 & 2.
JLL secures management contract with Pure DC for Abu Dhabi data center
JLL has announced it has secured a landmark facilities management contract with Pure Data Centres for a data center in Abu Dhabi, UAE.Located in Yas Island, the 45MW data center is Pure Data Centres’ first facility in the UAE. The facility went live at the end of last month.
JLL will provide integrated facilities management services at the site. The company said its offerings will comprise ongoing maintenance and support for Yas Island’s low-voltage and high-voltage electrical systems, including its UPS, switchgear, and HVO-powered generators, as well as its hybrid air and liquid cooling systems. JLL will also be responsible for network and ICT management.
The contract follows JLL’s decision to strengthen its data center service offerings, having recently added three senior hires to its EMEA team.
Pure Data Centres currently has, both operational and under construction, more than 500MW of IT capacity across the UK, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.At the end of last year, the operator formed a joint venture with Dune Vaults to develop data center campuses across Saudi Arabia.
Partners Group acquires Australian data center firm GreenSquareDC
Swiss private equity firm Partners Group is to acquire Australian data center firm GreenSquareDC. Announced last week, Partners Group said it will invest up to AU$1.2 billion (US$759m) in GreenSquare to establish the company as a “next generation data center platform.”
GreenSquare launched in October 2022 and the company is developing a data center in Perth, Western Australia. Located in Belmont, the four-story facility will offer 68,000 sqm (731,945 sq ft) of gross floor area on 38,000 sqm (409,030 sq ft) of land. Completion of the first stage is estimated by mid-2024. The company is also planning a wind and solar farm to power the Perth project.
Partners said GreenSquareDC recently acquired its first site in Sydney, a brownfield data center with an existing powered shell and an adjoining landbank that will enable the campus to expand to 96MW of compute capacity.
Founded in 1996, Partners Group has more than US$150 billion in assets under management globally. Partners Group’s Infrastructure business manages US$27 billion in assets globally.
The firm said it has invested some $4bn in data centers since 2021, and has previously acquired Nordic data center firm atNorth and US operator EdgeCore.
$2.1bn data center campus proposed in Archbald, Pennsylvania
An unnamed developer plans to build a $2.1 billion data center campus in Archbald, Pennsylvania.
Located on 400 acres alongside Business Route 6 and Wildcat Road, the site was previously slated for a large housing development, as reported by the Times-Tribune. Dubbed the Wildcat Ridge AI Data Center Campus, the project is expected to span around 17.2 million sq ft (1.6 million sqm), featuring 14 three-story data centers. Each data center is expected to span 379,500 sq ft (35,257 sqm). The campus is located within proximity to a PPL substation but would have its own substation on the property.
Other details have not yet been shared. The plans have been submitted by engineering firm LaBella Associates on behalf of the developer. Pine Line Inc. is a partial property owner.
Pine Line sold some of the land to Archbald Ventures last year but still retains around 240 acres of the western portion. Archbald Ventures shared an address with real estate company Trodale Developers. Trodale Developers had initially filed to build the Archibald Hills housing development before the plans were replaced with a data center campus.
The unnamed developer is now asking for the land to be rezoned for industrial use and will buy out Pine Line’s share of the property. A recommendation is set to be made to the council in around three months. The council will then vote on the zoning amendment. The council is not expected to vote until Q3 or Q4 of 2025.
Mitsui acquires stake in Japanese hyperscale data centre
Mitsui & Co., Ltd.’s wholly owned subsidiary, Mitsui & Co. Asset Management Holdings Ltd. is expanding its presence in the data centre sector by acquiring a stake in an operational hyperscale data centre in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The company announced a planned investment of 18 billion yen (US$121.9 million) to secure 50% ownership of the holding company that oversees the facility. The remaining capital will be financed through non-recourse loans from financial institutions.
The data centre is expected to be incorporated into a newly established investment fund in collaboration with institutional investors from both Japan and overseas. As with previous projects, asset management responsibilities will be assigned to MBRM.
Mitsui has identified industrial business solutions as a key area in its medium-term management plan for 2026. The company said it also plans to offer investment opportunities in data centre assets.
The hyperscale data centre facility in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan is currently in operation, with a power capacity of 20 MW. Mitsui has stated that the financial impact of this transaction on its earnings for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, is expected to be minor.
The company also noted that while the investment reflects current market conditions and projections, uncertainties remain regarding future performance. Risks related to economic shifts and industry trends could affect expected outcomes.
SM+ begins construction on Jakarta AI-ready data centre
Jakarta is set to host a new AI data centre as construction begins on SMX01, a facility backed by Sinar Mas’ (SMMA.JK) digital infrastructure company SM+ and its joint venture partner, Korea Investment Real Asset Management (KIRA). The project is located in the city’s central business district and is expected to be operational in the second half of 2026.
The data centre represents an investment exceeding $300 million and is being developed in collaboration with LG Sinar Mas, which will serve as the technology advisor and operator. The company has experience managing over 600 MW of data centre capacity in South Korea.
With Southeast Asia’s digital economy projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030, the company said SMX01 aims to address growing regional demand for digital infrastructure. The facility will span nearly 15,500 sqm and house around 2,400 racks across nine data halls. Each hall will be capable of accommodating up to 340 racks for enterprise colocation to high-density hyperscale deployments and AI-driven applications.
The data centre will launch with an initial IT load capacity of 18 MW, with plans to scale up to 60 MW. It will include support for high-density racks of up to 130 KW, air-cooling systems with optional liquid cooling, and multiple fibre entry paths from Indonesian internet providers.
SMX01 is designed to meet Tier IV standards and is expected to secure a green building certification, with a focus on energy efficiency and security.
Tillion Data Centres subsidiary forks out $2.1bn on data centre in Spain
Azora has announced plans for a new data centre in Zaragoza, Spain, through its subsidiary Tillion Data Centres. The facility will have an initial capacity of 150 MW, with the potential to expand to 300 MW.
Azora is set to invest up to €2 billion (US$2.1 billion) in the project, while end users are expected to contribute an additional €5 billion (US$5.4 billion) for computing equipment.
Located near Villamayor de Gállego, the site aims to reduce energy losses and improve efficiency. The initial 150 MW concession was approved by Red Eléctrica in 2024 and has passed technical validation. The Government of Aragon has also designated the project as a Declaration of General Interest (DIGA), allowing construction to begin in 2026.
The company said the facility will incorporate closed-loop cooling systems to limit water consumption to under 2,500 cubic metres per year, comparable to the usage of 25 homes. It will be powered entirely by renewable energy, either through self-consumption or long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) with renewable energy providers.
The first phase of the project, which will require €1.1 billion in investment, is projected to create over 1,000 jobs annually and contribute €5.5 billion to the regional GDP. Expanding to 300 MW would increase the total investment to €1.95 billion, generating over 1,800 jobs annually and contributing more than €9 billion to Aragon’s economy.
Verne strike 10MW deal to lease data centre capacity to Nebius
AI infrastructure provider Nebius (NASDAQ: NBIS) has struck a deal with Nordic data centre operator Verne to locate a cluster of NVIDIA H200 GPUs at Verne’s data centre campus in Iceland.
The collaboration marks the largest single implementation in Verne Iceland’s history, with Nebius deploying a 10MW cluster.
This installation is part of Nebius’ build-out of AI infrastructure across the US and Europe. In September 2024 the group revealed a US$1 billion investment package for Europe, which was accompanied by its first deployment of Nvidia H200’s in Paris.
In October it said it would expand its Finnish data centre campus by a multiple of three and place up to 60,000 GPUs at its Mäntsälä location.
Just last week the Amsterdam-headquartered company revealed it would be building a 300MW data centre in New Jersey as part of its US expansion plans. It is partnering with new French data centre operator DataOne on that plan.
Verne’s Icelandic facility, is located on a former NATO base and powered entirely by Iceland’s 100% renewable hydroelectric and geothermal energy resources.