Data Center Investment News — 01/03/2024
Empyrean DC Secures S$133m to Refinance Singapore Data Centre
Empyrean DC secures S$133 million to refinance its Singapore data centre, reflecting the continued investment in upgrading and optimizing digital infrastructure in the region.
Mark Fong, Empyrion DC CEO, said: “We continue to drive ESG goals through our core strategy of building and operating data centers that are green by design from the start. We are delighted to partner UOB in sustainability financing and will continue to explore innovative data center design and energy-efficient technologies to power up our journey to be the leading green data center operator in Asia.”
Leong Yung Chee, head of group corporate banking at UOB, added: “Singapore is Asia Pacific’s data center hub, and having the opportunity to partner [with] innovative and sustainable companies such as Empyrion DC reinforces the country’s competitive edge in the digital economy.
“Empyrion DC’s Green Mark Platinum certified SG1 Dodid Data Centre in Singapore is backed by its first green loan, which will bolster the company’s strategies for energy efficiency.”
The funding aims to support the enhancement of data centre facilities to meet the growing demand for reliable and efficient data storage and processing services.
DigitalBridge-Sponsored Vantage Data Centres Expands Leadership Team with New Regional Presidents
Vantage Data Centres, sponsored by DigitalBridge, expands its leadership team by appointing new regional presidents.
Vantage Data Centers has appointed Dana Adams and David Howson as regional presidents of North America and EMEA, respectively as the DigitalBridge-backed group continues to invest billions of Dollars in its infrastructure expansion.
Adams joins Vantage’s executive leadership team as president of North America with nearly 18 years of experience in the data centre sector to the company. Based in Denver, she will oversee the region’s growth, including market development, sales, construction and operations, reporting to Jeff Tench, executive vice president, North America and APAC.
As for Howson, he joins Vantage as president of EMEA to spearhead the company’s growth, overseeing market development, sales, construction and operations across the region.
Additionally, Boniface, who previously served as president of EMEA, has been named the company’s first chief commercial officer for EMEA. In his new role, Boniface will oversee site selection, market intelligence, sales and sales engineering, driving Vantage’s commercial strategy to expand with customers across the region.
These leadership appointments come just three months after the company named Raymond Tong as president of APAC. The strategic move aims to strengthen the company’s operational capabilities and drive growth initiatives across different regions, further solidifying its position in the data centre industry.
Yondr Announces Hyperscale Data Centre Expansions in Japan and the US
Yondr announces plans for hyperscale data centre expansions in Japan and the US, reflecting the company’s commitment to meeting the increasing demand for digital infrastructure worldwide.
Firstly, the company has entered into a partnership with Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni), one of the largest conglomerates in Japan, to develop a site in West Tokyo with the intention of additional sites being added in the near future. Elsewhere, Yondr, in partnership with JK Land Holdings, LLC (JKLH), has broken ground on its second 48MW data centre in Loudoun County, Northern Virginia.
The project comes two months on from energising its first 48MW data centre in Loudoun County. At full build, the campus will amount to 96MW.
The expansions aim to enhance Yondr’s capabilities in providing reliable and scalable data solutions to support the growth of cloud services and digital technologies.
Vauban’s Borealis Data Centre Acquires Finnish Facility
Vauban’s Borealis Data Centre acquires a Finnish facility, marking a strategic expansion of its data centre portfolio in Europe. The deal will see the group also expand the Kajaani Data Centre, in the town of Kajaani, central Finland.
Björn Brynjúlfsson, CEO and co-founder of Borealis Data Centre said: “The Kajaani Campus has been designed to the highest standards and is backed by a robust supply of renewable energy and secure infrastructure. Like Borealis Data Centre’s three locations in Iceland, Kajaani benefits from Finland‘s cool climate which serves as an ideal setting for data centre efficiency.
“This facility marks a significant enhancement to Borealis’s portfolio, enriching our customer offering. We look forward to welcoming new customers to our new data centre.”
The acquisition aims to strengthen Vauban’s presence in the region and enhance its ability to provide high-quality data services to customers in Finland and beyond.
Global Switch Granted Green Light for London AI-Ready Hyperscale Data Centre
Data centre investor and operator Global Switch has been granted planning approval for the construction of a new five floor, 27,000 sqm/290,000 sqft data centre at its London campus. Once complete, the addition will take the data centre campus to 115,000 sqm/1,237,800 sqft with 126MVA of utility power supply capacity.
Ashley Muldoon, CEO said: “With this new addition to our London campus, Global Switch will provide existing and new customers with further expansion opportunities in yet another Tier 1 located, low latency, high density data centre solution.
“Our London Docklands campus will continue to play an essential role in delivering HPC and AI in the London market, as we grow our unique offering in 2024
The project reflects the increasing focus on advanced technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, driving the need for high-performance computing infrastructure.
Mercury Delivers 19MW Data Centre in Paris to Digital Realty
Mercury successfully delivers a 19MW data centre facility in Paris to Digital Realty, enhancing the latter’s capacity to cater to the growing demand for digital infrastructure services in Europe
The initial phase centered on the construction of the shell, façade, and roof of PAR9 as well as the installation and delivery of CSA works. The fit-out stage focused on the delivery of 12 data halls and encompassed the design, installation, and delivery of CSA works and MEP installations throughout the facility.
“We take immense pride in the handover of PAR9 to our valued client, Digital Realty,” said Tim Reid, business unit lead for Mercury’s data center building services division. “This accomplishment not only underscores our unwavering commitment to excellence in the data center industry but also played a pivotal role in securing additional contracts for the same campus. The synergy between the Mercury and Digital Realty project teams was truly invigorating throughout the completion of PAR9.
The completion of this project represents a significant milestone in strengthening Digital Realty’s presence in key European markets.
77MW Data Centre Proposed in East London, UK
Plans are underway for the development of a 77MW data centre in East London, UK, reflecting the continued growth of digital infrastructure projects in the region.
The listed applicant has links to UK operator Kao Data and its owners. At the same time, Newham is also set to be the home of GLP’s previously announced data centre campus, its first in the UK.
The company Kao Data is proposing the erection of a multi-story data centre totalling approximately 60,510 sqm (651,325 sq. ft), an adjacent connected plant building, and an energy centre on land at Bidder Street in Canning Town. While the application from GLP UK – for land at the former Allnex Paint Factory on North Woolwich Road in Silvertown – seeks to develop a 64,245 sqm (691,530 sq. ft) data centre building (LCY01) and substation, with plans to develop two more data centre buildings totalling 142,170 sqm (1.53 million sq. ft).
The proposed data centre aims to address the increasing demand for cloud services and connectivity solutions, positioning East London as a key hub for digital innovation.
Prime Data Centres Looking to Build $1.3bn Data Centre Near Austin, Texas
Prime Data Centres announces plans to develop a $1.3 billion data centre near Austin, Texas, underscoring the region’s attractiveness for data centre investments.
The development will be located along Farm to Market Road 2720 in the county and will be a “turn-key” data center campus. Limited information about the development has been shared, including the principals behind the project.
The developers are linked to “Project Snow,” which is an unidentified economic development initiative that was voted for on January 23.
The project aims to meet the growing demand for cloud services and digital infrastructure in Texas, further enhancing the state’s position as a leading tech hub.
Goodman Plans NZ$300m Fund for New Data Centres in Auckland, New Zealand
Goodman announces plans to establish a NZ$300 million fund for the development of new data centres in Auckland, New Zealand, reflecting the growing demand for digital infrastructure in the country.
James Spence, chief executive of GMT, told RNZ: “Alongside what we do at the moment, which is buying, redeveloping, and building high-quality logistics assets. We’re also looking at the possibility of data centers in Auckland. The characteristics of a data center are quite similar in shape, size, and location as warehouse and logistics spaces.”
Spence said that the company is looking at “about 50 hectares” of brownfield, last-mile industrial sites in South Auckland, but did not provide further details on precise locations.
The initiative aims to support the expansion of data centre capacity and enhance connectivity solutions to meet the needs of businesses and consumers in New Zealand.
CtrlS to Build Data Centre Park in Chennai, India
CtrlS announces plans to build a data centre park in Chennai, India, further expanding its presence in the country’s digital infrastructure landscape. Announced this week, the company will invest Rs 4000 crore ($482.5m) in the 72MW project.
Construction is already underway. Located in the Ambattur industrial area the site will offer 1 million sq ft (92,900 sqm) across two buildings, along with an on-site substation. CtrlS said the first data center building – Chennai DC 1 – is fully booked and will begin operations in Q2 2024. The second data center building – Chennai DC 2 – is set to launch in the second half of 2024; the 10-story structure will offer 27MW.
Sridhar Pinnapureddy, founder and CEO of CtrlS Datacenters said: “We are delighted to unveil our upcoming Chennai DC Park. Chennai is the second largest data center market in India and holds strategic significance because of the presence of [a] large number of subsea cable landing stations, coupled with the growing presence of enterprises and cloud service providers in the region.”
The project aims to address the growing demand for reliable and scalable data solutions in India, catering to the needs of businesses and organizations across various sectors.
Digital Edge Launches 23MW Data Centre in Jakarta, Indonesia
Digital Edge unveils a new 23MW data centre in Jakarta, Indonesia, bolstering the country’s digital infrastructure capabilities. Known as EDGE2, the new data center has been under construction since 2022 and is located in Jl. Kuningan Mulia, South Jakarta.
Samuel Lee, Digital Edge CEO, said: “We are excited by the growth opportunities in Indonesia and this new facility in downtown Jakarta further expands our presence across South East Asia, while bringing much needed capacity to one of the region’s fastest growing digital economies.
“With its innovative and highly energy efficient design, we are confident EDGE2 is well placed to capture the growing wave of demand for the increasingly power-hungry AI and hyperscale deployments that continue to shape Asia’s digital infrastructure landscape.”
AirTrunk Breaks Ground on Osaka Data Centre in Japan
AirTrunk commences construction on a new data centre facility in Osaka, Japan, expanding its footprint in the Asia-Pacific region.
The company announced plans to expand into Osaka in October 2023. The 16,500 sqm (177,605 sq ft) building will offer 5,400 sqm (58,125 sq ft) of technical space and feature an on-site substation.
The company said the facility will service a new major cloud availability zone, complementing AirTrunk’s existing data centers in east and west Tokyo, TOK1 and TOK2.
The project aims to meet the increasing demand for hyperscale data solutions in Japan, supporting the country’s digital transformation efforts and reinforcing AirTrunk’s position as a leading provider of data centre services in the region.
ODATA to Build Two More Mexican Data Centre Campuses
ODATA announces plans to develop two additional data centre campuses in Mexico, demonstrating its commitment to expanding its presence in the Latin American market.
The Aligned-owned company this week announced its QR01 data center in Querétaro is being expanded. The company also said it has started to build two new hyperscale data center campuses in Mexico, in Guanajuato and El Marqués.
Building work on the expansion in Querétaro started last year. Construction on the first building began in 2020 and launched in 2022. At full build-out, the QR01 campus will offer up to 32MW. In Guanajuato, the QR02 campus will offer 30MW. In El Marqués, QR03 will offer 150MW.
Timelines for the new developments weren’t shared, though OData’s website says construction work on QR02 has begun and the photos sent by the company suggest it is close to completion.
The new facilities will enhance ODATA’s capacity to deliver reliable and efficient data services to businesses and organizations across various industries, supporting Mexico’s digital infrastructure growth.