Data Center Investment News — 28/02/2025
Schneider Electric launches R&D data center in Massachusetts
Schneider Electric recently launched a new R&D data center and microgrid research laboratories at its Global R&D Center in Andover, Massachusetts. The opening ceremony took place this week, marking a significant step in the company’s global €2.26 billion ($2.4 billion) investment in research and development in 2024. The expansion includes the addition of specialized labs to test fully functioning microgrids under real-world conditions, enhancing Schneider Electric’s ability to design and deliver advanced microgrid solutions for its customers.
The new R&D facilities span 6,000 square feet, housing a Power Distribution Unit (PDU) lab with three testing bays for high-powered voltage systems. Additionally, the data center lab features high-voltage test stations and 3D-printing capabilities. A 1,500-square-foot microgrid laboratory is also part of the expansion, equipped with four 90kW grid simulators and three 45kW solar simulators, further supporting Schneider’s mission to advance resilient and sustainable energy solutions.
Pankaj Sharma, EVP of Data Centers and Networks at Schneider Electric, highlighted the growing demand for data and resilient energy solutions driven by AI and digital services. He noted that industries, municipalities, and various sectors are seeking reliable microgrid systems. The microgrid lab has already contributed to high-profile projects, including JFK Airport’s New Terminal One and Bimbo Bakeries’ facilities in California, showcasing the immediate impact of these new R&D capabilities.
ODATA Expands its Operations in Mexico with the Construction of Two New Data Center Campuses
ODATA, an Aligned Data Centers company, has revealed the expansion of its operations in Mexico to address the increasing demand for IT infrastructure and cloud services in the region. The company is enhancing its QR01 data center in Querétaro and constructing two additional hyperscale data center campuses, QR02 and QR03. Upon completion, the QR01 campus will offer up to 32MW of capacity, aligning with the rising demand for advanced technologies and services catering to hyperscale customers.
The new data center campuses are strategically located in Guanajuato (QR02) and El Marqués (QR03), with QR02 slated to provide 30MW and QR03 set to become the largest data center campus in Mexico, boasting a capacity of 150MW. QR03, located 221 km from Mexico City, will focus on hyperscale customers. Ricardo Alário, CEO of ODATA, underscored the success of the QR01 facilities and the company’s ability to meet the increasing demand for data centers in the region. He highlighted how the expansions will strengthen ODATA’s presence in the Mexican market.
A December 2023 IDC report revealed that IT business growth in Mexico reached 22%, outperforming Brazil’s 15%. Alário emphasized Mexico’s potential as a key center for data centers and cloud services in Latin America. With these expansions, ODATA reaffirms its leadership in the region, offering reliable, state-of-the-art infrastructure for companies seeking to stay competitive and innovative through technology.
Iron Mountain breaks ground on first data center in Miami
Iron Mountain has begun construction on its first data center in Miami-Dade County, located in District 12. The new facility, MIA-1, will provide 16MW of capacity across 150,000 sq ft (13,935 sqm) on a 3.4-acre site. Set to be fully operational in 2026, the data center will run entirely on carbon-free energy. The announcement for MIA-1 was first made in November 2023, where the company revealed it would transform its former record storage facility into a modern data center.
Mark Kidd, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Asset Lifecycle Management and Data Centers at Iron Mountain, emphasized that the MIA-1 facility would serve as a crucial link between Miami and the global digital economy. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava also lauded the expansion, noting that Iron Mountain’s investment not only creates high-quality jobs but also reinforces Miami-Dade’s standing as a leading hub for technology and innovation.
Operating in 61 countries, Iron Mountain currently holds around 415MW of colocation and hyperscale capacity across 21 markets in seven countries and three continents. The company reported a revenue increase of 25%, totalling $620 million in 2024. With the Miami facility, Iron Mountain continues to grow its digital infrastructure footprint, alongside other prominent operators in the area such as ColoHouse, Digital Realty, Equinix, and Verizon.
Dhiraagu launches Hulhumalé data center in the Maldives
Dhiraagu, a leading telecom provider in the Maldives, has just launched the country’s first Uptime-certified Tier IV data center in Hulhumalé. Located at Lot 21563, Dhunburigas Magu in Malé City, this new facility is up and running, marking a major step forward for digital infrastructure in the country. The data center is designed with top-notch security, fault tolerance, and high availability, while also supporting Dhiraagu’s Cloud IaaS, which helps businesses host critical applications and scale confidently.
This data center launch comes as part of Dhiraagu’s involvement in the SeaMeWe-6 subsea cable project, which arrived in the Maldives in August 2024, though it will take another two years to be fully operational. The company is also collaborating with Ooredoo on the DSCoM subsea cable, which connects eight islands across the country. This expansion further solidifies Dhiraagu’s role in boosting digital connectivity in the region.
Hulhumalé, where the data center is based, is an artificial island created by pumping sand from the sea floor. The island’s development started back in 1997, with its official inauguration in 2004. It is now the fourth largest of the 187 inhabited islands in the Maldives and is quickly becoming a hub for digital infrastructure. Other significant projects in Hulhumalé include a data center built by Qatari telco Ooredoo in 2021.
Rowan secures $1.2bn for Maryland data center campus build-out
Rowan Digital Infrastructure has secured $1.24 billion in construction financing to support the second phase of its flagship hyperscale data center campus at TPG’s Quantum Frederick site in Maryland. This new financing brings Rowan’s total funding for the Maryland project to $2.2 billion, following the $975 million secured last month for phase one. The construction of the Bauxite I campus, which will have 300MW capacity and four single-story buildings spanning 777,150 square feet, is part of a broader effort to develop multiple campuses within the 2,100-acre Quantum Frederick Park.
The financing round was led by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and MUFG Bank, with other banks including Mizuho and TD Securities serving as coordinating lead arrangers. Fourteen lenders participated in this round, with additional banks expected to join in a secondary syndication in March. Rowan’s CFO, Kevin Mammel, expressed gratitude for the continued support from the company’s financing partners, noting that the involvement of both existing and new lenders highlights the growing appeal of Rowan’s platform and its ability to deliver large-scale, energy-efficient data centers.
In addition to the Maryland project, Rowan is developing two other campuses in the Quantum Frederick Park, Bauxite II and Bauxite III, which will span 822,620 square feet and 591,913 square feet, respectively. The broader 2,100-acre site is owned by TPG Real Estate and is being developed into a major data center park. Rowan is also expanding its operations outside of Maryland, with a 300MW campus under development in Temple, Texas, and a four-building campus planned in Oregon.
Kent acquires data center design firm Sudlows Consulting
Engineering services firm Kent has acquired Sudlows Consulting, a leading data center design and consulting firm, from Sudlows Group. The deal, which closed this week, did not disclose financial terms. Sudlows Consulting, founded in 2014 and headquartered in Dubai, has completed over 100 projects in 20 countries with additional offices in India, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. The acquisition will enable Sudlows to expand its business, broaden its global reach, and enhance its leadership position in the rapidly growing data center sector.
John Rippingale, CEO of Sudlows Consulting, stated that the acquisition represents a defining moment for the company. He expressed excitement about the potential opportunities, noting that the partnership with Kent provides a solid platform to reach their full potential. Kent’s CEO, John Gilley, also welcomed Sudlows Consulting, praising the firm’s expertise in the data center sector and aligning their entrepreneurial spirit with Kent’s culture and vision. He emphasized that the acquisition would allow both companies to deliver innovative solutions and unlock the full potential of the sector.
Kent, founded in 1919 and backed by Nesma & Partners, is an international services firm offering engineering solutions for industries such as oil and gas, renewables, and low-carbon. This acquisition is part of Kent’s strategy to diversify into adjacent markets while maintaining a focus on excellence and innovation. The exiting shareholders of Sudlows Group, led by John Collins, pointed out the strategic alignment between Kent and Sudlows Consulting, which will enable Sudlows Group to continue its focus on global design and build activities for hyperscale customers.
Data center to be built in former bunker in Leverkusen, Germany
A new data center is set to be built in a former bunker in Leverkusen, Germany, with GetGenius Inc. investing millions into the project for district development company SWM. The facility will be located on Niederfeldstrasse in Wiesdorf, an area recognized for its growing tech presence. Marco Rolof, CEO of GetGenius Inc., emphasized the project’s potential to significantly impact Leverkusen, positioning the city as a hub for innovation. While specific details of the facility are not yet available, a dedicated project website is being created for more information.
SWM, which purchased the two-story bunker and an adjacent building in fall 2024, is also developing a larger office district in the region. The district plans include eight to ten office buildings on Niederfeldstrasse, designed to create a dynamic business environment. Björn Krischick, managing director of SWM, pointed out that the project, along with a favorable trade tax rate of 250 percent, could provide a major boost to Leverkusen, offering synergies for entrepreneurs. SWM is working to ensure the infrastructure meets investor needs and keeps pace with the development.
The bunker, built in 1941 as a civil defense facility, spans 915 square meters (9,848 sq ft) and was never fully completed. It will now be repurposed for the data center project as part of the wider district development. GetGenius Inc., founded in 2022 and based in Washington, DC, is an AI-driven marketing automation company. SWM is also involved in several other projects in Wiesdorf/Manfort, including a transport hub, residential developments, a school campus, and retail space. The region is home to major data center operators like AtlasEdge, nLighten, and Microsoft.
PowerHouse and Provident to develop 1.8GW campus in DFW, Texas
PowerHouse Data Centers and Provident Data Centers have announced the co-development of a major 768-acre data center campus in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas. Located just outside of Grand Prairie in northern Ellis County, the campus will feature a 1.8GW switchyard, with the first 500MW tranche already approved through ERCOT. This marks the first project for their newly formed joint venture. The campus is slated to have 24 buildings developed in three phases, with the first building expected to be energized in May 2026.
Provident, the data center arm of the Dallas-based real estate firm Provident, and PowerHouse are committed to creating lasting economic opportunities in Texas. According to Leon Backes, CEO of Provident, the campus will play a significant role in strengthening Texas’ position as a hub for digital infrastructure and next-generation computing. Doug Fleit, co-founder and CEO of PowerHouse, emphasized that the joint venture exemplifies their ability to meet hyperscale users fast-paced, stringent requirements through a blend of resources and expertise.
The project marks PowerHouse’s second in Texas, following a 200MW initiative in Irving announced last year. Provident has a strong presence in Texas, with projects in Grand Prairie, Fort Worth, Irving, Plano, Dallas, and Austin. PowerHouse, founded in 2022 and a division of American Real Estate Partners, is focused on a large-scale data center portfolio with over 6GW of capacity planned or under construction across Virginia, Texas, and North Carolina.
TECfusions acquires 73 acres in Clarksville, Virginia, for 300MW data center expansion
TECfusions has acquired 73 acres of land in Clarksville, Virginia, for the expansion of its flagship data center, announced on February 24. The company has consolidated six parcels of land in Mecklenburg County into a single 300MW high-density data center campus. In addition to the expansion, TECfusions plans to build affordable multi-tenant housing for senior staff. The company has been working on acquiring this land since October 2024, with county approval delayed until early 2025. TECfusions plans to repurpose decommissioned coal plant transmission lines for the expansion, a move currently under discussion with Mecklenburg County and Dominion Electric.
The Clarksville site, located on Burlington Drive, is already operational with 500kW of live capacity, and TECfusions has gradually increased its capacity, reaching 24MW by mid-2024. The site offers an additional 80MW of capacity, with potential for another 220MW. TECfusions, founded in 2023 and led by former QTS CTO Simon Tusha, has secured over $300 million for the development of this project. The company focuses on building data centers for AI and HPC workloads, counting clients like TensorWave.
Meanwhile, in Virginia, Avaio Digital plans to develop a $5 billion, 300MW hyperscale data center campus in Farmville, following an agreement with the Prince Edward County Industrial Development Authority. The project will span 280 acres and include five data centers, with a focus on sustainable development. Avaio is also advancing a similar project in Appomattox County, VA, and has secured more than 1.2GW of power from utilities across the US. Additionally, Foundation Data Centers is planning a 150MW data center near Ashburn, VA, powered by natural gas. This new project, expected to accommodate up to 300kW racks, is part of the company’s expanding portfolio of high-density data centers across the US.
Colt DCS launches new data centre in Tokyo
Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS), based in London, has officially launched its new hyperscale data centre, Inzai 4, in Tokyo, Japan. This marks the second development under the joint venture between Fidelity Investments and Mitsui & Co., formed in July 2021. The Inzai 4 site follows the successful launch of Colt’s 45MW Osaka Keihanna data centre in March 2023. The first phase of Inzai 4 is now operational, with 4.8MW already in use, and once fully completed, it will add 20MW to Colt DCS’ capacity, bringing the total in Inzai to 70MW.
Since 2011, Colt DCS has viewed Inzai as a strategic location for its data centre expansion. With plans already underway for Inzai 5, the company is aiming for a total of 140MW capacity in Japan as part of its ongoing growth. The new Inzai 4 facility was constructed with sustainability in mind, following Colt DCS’ Global Reference Design (GRD) guidelines. These include using cooling systems with low Global Warming Potential (GWP) and minimizing the use of steel and concrete in construction.
Colt DCS’ CEO, Niclas Sanfridsson, emphasized that the growing demand for digital services in Japan is driving the need for more hyperscale data centres. In addition to its efforts in Japan, Colt has also entered a joint venture in India with RMZ Group, announced in November 2024. The focus of this partnership will be on expanding two existing sites, with plans to invest $1.8 billion in India’s data centre market.
Tecto Data Centers appoints CTO to spearhead $1bn expansion plan
Tecto Data Centers, a prominent digital infrastructure developer in Latin America, has appointed Alexandre Demarchi as its new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). This leadership change is part of the company’s ambitious $1 billion investment plan to build new data centers across Brazil, aimed at addressing the growing needs of the artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, and telecommunications industries. Demarchi, with over 25 years of experience in telecommunications infrastructure and electrical engineering, previously held key roles at Ascenty and KTY Engineering, overseeing significant data center projects across Latin America.
In his new role, Demarchi will be responsible for leading the development of edge and hyperscale data centers across the region. He expressed his excitement about Tecto’s expansion strategy, saying, “Tecto has an ambitious plan for expansion and innovation. I’m excited to bring my experience to help create resilient, efficient, and sustainable infrastructures that will support the increasing demand for new technologies.”
Tecto Data Centers currently operates five data centers in Brazil and Colombia,and is set to launch its third facility in Fortaleza, known as Mega Lobster, in the latter half of this year. This continued expansion will strengthen Tecto’s position in the Latin American market as the company looks to meet the region’s rising demand for advanced digital infrastructure.
Meta targets sites for $200bn AI data center campus
Meta is reportedly considering a substantial investment of up to $200 billion to establish a new AI-focused data center campus in the United States. The executives from Meta have been evaluating potential sites in Louisiana, Texas, and Wyoming for the project. However, a Meta spokesperson has since refuted the claim, stating that the company has already disclosed its capital expenditure and data center plans for the year, emphasizing that anything beyond these plans is “pure speculation.”
As part of its ongoing expansion, Meta is already progressing with a $10 billion data center campus in Louisiana’s Richland Parish, which will deliver 2GW of compute capacity upon completion. The facility will be built on a 2,250-acre site between Rayville and Delhi, about 30 miles east of Monroe. Spanning more than 4 million square feet, the campus is expected to begin construction in December 2024, with work set to continue until 2030. Additionally, Meta is developing a data center in Wyoming, covering 945 acres south of Cheyenne, with plans for a campus of 800,000 square feet, expected to take three years to complete.
Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, recently outlined plans to bring 1GW of compute power online this year and to deploy over 1.3 million GPUs by the end of 2025. For 2024, the company has allocated $60-65 billion in capital expenditures, with a significant portion dedicated to the growth of its data centers, servers, and AI capabilities.
SpaceX Falcon 9 carries data centre to the Moon
The Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, NASA, SpaceX, Phison Electronics, Valkyriehas, and Lonestar Data Holdings have joined forces for the launch of the Freedom Mission, a pioneering lunar data storage and processing initiative. Set to launch on 4 March aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, the mission aims to test advanced storage technology designed to withstand the extreme conditions of the lunar surface. Phison Electronics’ resilient Pascari storage portfolio will play a crucial role, optimized for the harsh lunar environment, including temperature fluctuations, cosmic radiation, and vibrations from the landing.
Phison, in partnership with Lonestar, developed a storage solution that meets the demanding requirements of lunar missions. This robust technology is built to endure intense read/write cycles and handle the intensive edge computing tasks that will be performed during the Freedom Mission. Christopher Stott, CEO of Lonestar, explained that Phison was the natural choice for their storage needs, given the company’s ability to scale and deliver durable solutions for extreme environments. He emphasized that this mission is just the first step in a long-term, petabyte-scale endeavor.
Beyond its immediate objectives, the Freedom Mission serves as a demonstration of space-ready SSD technology, with long-term potential for lunar and interstellar applications. The mission will help establish a foundation for offering advanced edge processing and resilient data recovery services to NGOs, government bodies, and enterprise clients. Phison’s President, Michael Wu, expressed the company’s pride in supporting this groundbreaking mission, emphasizing their commitment to ensuring data integrity and seamless performance in space, paving the way for the future of space exploration.
Portman Partners appoints ex-Oracle VP as strategic advisor amid US expansion
Portman Partners has appointed Sanjeev Khanna as a strategic advisor to bolster its executive search capabilities, particularly within the US data centre market and other regions. With over 30 years of experience in digital infrastructure, Khanna has held leadership positions at major companies such as Oracle, Microsoft, and Intel. At Oracle, he served as vice president of EMEA Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) strategy and sales, where he played a key role in investment strategies and contributed to launching Oracle’s dedicated region and Oracle Alloy.
Khanna shared his enthusiasm about joining Portman Partners, recognizing the rapid growth of the digital infrastructure sector. He said, “With the evolution of data centres and cloud technologies, there is an increasing demand for exceptional leadership to drive innovation and expansion.” Drawing on his experience in scaling cloud operations, data centre strategy, and global sales, Khanna aims to help connect visionary leaders with opportunities that will shape the future of the industry.
Mike Meyer, managing director of Portman Partners, emphasized the importance of strengthening the team to better support clients. He noted that Khanna’s deep expertise in digital infrastructure would be a crucial asset as the firm looks to expand its global footprint and introduce new services. In his advisory role, Khanna will focus on helping the company identify senior leadership talent in the data centre sector, further enhancing Portman’s ability to serve its clients and expand its presence in the market.
Goodman Appoints John Parsons as Senior Vice President for North American Data Centers
Goodman has announced the appointment of John Parsons as Senior Vice President for Data Centers in North America. In this new role, Parsons will spearhead the execution of Goodman’s U.S. data center strategy. With extensive experience working with hyperscale’s and data center real estate companies, he will enhance the company’s capabilities in delivering complex infrastructure projects. Operating from Seattle, Parsons will leverage Goodman’s 5 GW power bank to offer customer-focused solutions and expedite time-to-market, benefiting both customers and investors alike.