Data Center Investment News — 19/04/2024
GDS, Gaw Capital partner up for Tokyo hyperscale data centre investment
Chinese data centre operator GDS (NASDAQ: GDS; HKEX: 9698) and private equity fund management firm Gaw Capital Partners have entered into a strategic partnership to build a 40 megawatts (MW) data centre campus in Tokyo, Japan.
The venture represents GDS’s first entry into the Japanese market and comes at a time when the Nipponic capital is witnessing a growth in digital infrastructure deployments amidst an expansion of cloud-based services.
The move also marks a significant expansion of GDS’s international footprint into North Asia following its growth in Southeast Asia.
The facility, expected to come online by the end of 2026, will be deployed in Fuchu, West Tokyo, and will encompass a total land size of 10,969 sqm and with IT capacity expected to reach 40 MW.
Gaw Capital Partners, through a fund under its management, has acquired the two adjacent data centre sites located in Fuchu Intelligent Park, a data centre cluster less than 30km from central Tokyo.
Equinix, PGIM to develop and operate first xScale data centre in US under $600m JV
Digital infrastructure REIT Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) and PGIM Real Estate, the real estate investment and financing arm of PGIM, Prudential Financial’s global asset management business, have entered into a US$600 million joint venture to develop and operate the first xScale data centre in the U.S., located in the Silicon Valley region of California.
The two-story facility, which will be known as SV12x, will be built out in two phases and is expected to provide more than 28 megawatts (MW) of power capacity at full build out. SV12x is located at Equinix’s Great Oaks data centre campus in San Jose, California alongside four existing Equinix International Business ExchangeTM (IBX) data centres. The first phase of the facility is scheduled to be completed in Q2 2024.
The agreement represents the second joint venture between Equinix and PGIM Real Estate. Combined with Equinix’s existing hyperscale joint ventures in Europe, Asia-Pacific and elsewhere in the Americas, this new joint venture will bring the global xScale data centre portfolio to more than US$8 billion across more than 35 facilities, and an expected greater than 725 megawatts of power capacity when completed and fully constructed.
Mercury to deliver Digital Realty’s next expansion phase in Paris, France
Engineering firm Mercury has been chosen to deliver Digital Realty’s next expansion phase of its Paris campus in France.
The colocation provider delivered the 19MW PAR9 facility earlier this year and will be the main contractor for the rest of the expansion at Digital Realty’s PAR10 and PAR11 sites.
Construction has already begun at the PAR10 site and is expected to launch at the end of this year. The PAR11 facility is scheduled to open in Q3 of 2025. Digital Realty’s PAR8, PAR9, PAR10, and PAR11 sites comprise the company’s Paris Digital Park.
When complete, the Paris Digital Park will offer a combined 76MW of IT power across 39,000 sqm (420,000 sq ft) of white space.
Irving City Council gives OK for Edged Energy data center in Texas
Edged Energy is building a new data center campus in the Dallas Fort Worth area of Texas.
The company this week announced it was pressing ahead with building the data center in Irving after the Irving City Council voted unanimously in support of the development. Plans for the facility were first revealed in September 2023.
Known as Edged Dallas, the facility will be built for high-density AI workloads and equipped with the company’s waterless cooling system.
Located at 505 North Wildwood Drive, east of Highway 12 and south of Highway 183, Edged Dallas will deliver 24MW of capacity, and operate with an average Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.15.
Blackstone to buy former Britishvolt site for QTS data center in Northumberland, UK
US equity firm Blackstone is set to buy the Northumberland Energy Park (NEP3) site to build a hyperscale data center.
Blackstone intends to purchase the site in Cambois, UK, on behalf of its data center landlord QTS. In the proposal submitted to Northumberland Council, the cabinet is requested to amend the existing buy-back option on the NEP3 site and re-enter an agreement with Blackstone.
The site is currently under an agreement between Britishvolt and the county council. Britishvolt planned to build a £3.8 billion ($4.7bn) car battery factory on the site. However, the company fell into administration last year and plans collapsed, along with Britishvolt’s promise to create 3,000 jobs in the region.
Equinix plans $130m data center in Santiago, Chile
Equinix is planning to build a data center in Santiago, Chile, according to a report from BN Americas.
The US company filed an environmental impact declaration for the construction of its fifth Chilean facility- known as ST5. Located in the Pudahuel district, ST5 will comprise 16 data rooms and office space over two floors spanning 24,420 sqm (263,000 sq ft). The estimated cost of the facility is $130 million.
The ST5 facility will be set on a gross land area of 42,400 sqm (456,000 sq ft). Construction is expected to begin in May 2025 with the first phase due to be completed in April 2027.
The facility will feature 16 emergency generator sets with 3,500 kVA and one 900kVA for the office module. It will also include a 38-hour fuel tank.
Colt DCS to double size of planned data center campus in Hayes, West London
Colt DCS is set to double the size of its planned data center campus in Hayes, West London, after acquiring a fresh parcel of land.
The company, which provides hyperscale and large enterprise data center solutions, says the expansion will make the campus the largest in its global portfolio.
Based on the site of the former Optimum Data Centre facility on the Springfield Road Industrial Area, Hayes, the initial phase of the campus is currently under construction and will comprise two buildings with 60MW IT capacity. Building work began last year, and it is expected to come online in Q3 2025.
Colt DCS has now secured a second piece of land adjacent to its current plot, which the company says will allow it to more than double the size of the campus. Specifications of the second stage of the development, and timescales for construction, have not been shared.
STT GDC Breaks Ground on Second Tokyo Data Center
ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has announced the commencement of construction for its second data center facility, STT Tokyo 2, in Tokyo, Japan. Scheduled to be operational by early 2027, the facility is being established to meet the growing need for critical digital infrastructure in the region.
Situated within the newly developed Goodman Business Park in Inzai City, part of the Greater Tokyo Area, STT Tokyo 2 forms an integral component of STT GDC’s expanding data center campus. The campus is designed to accommodate up to 70 megawatts of IT capacity, with STT Tokyo 2 projected to contribute up to 38 megawatts upon completion.
This initiative underscores STT GDC’s ongoing commitment to enhancing its regional data center presence, ensuring the provision of top-tier facilities in key developing and emerging markets throughout Asia.
maincubes announces new chief operating officer
Martin Murphy joins maincubes’ management team to lead internal operations, spearhead customer success and manage the transition of new sites and capacity into live sites.
maincubes believe that the addition of Murphy also strengthens the company’s operational performance and complements maincubes’ ESG initiatives as the company executes on its international growth.
“I am excited about the opportunity to join maincubes and contribute to the success of the company.