New Data Center Developments: January 2024

The demand for new data centers isn't showing any sign of slowing. With new projects being announced each week, keeping track of the latest data center developments is not always easy.

To keep you informed about the latest data center news involving design, construction, and related developments, we bring you the highlights from the past month.

This curated selection will help you stay on top of the latest data center development news with ease.

North American Data Center Deals

In the US, Microsoft is hoping to bring a sixth data center to Des Moines, Iowa, continuing its 15-year legacy in the city. According to local reports, the ‘Ruthenium’ data center would occupy around 132 acres of land. 

County supervisors in northern Virginia have approved one of the world’s largest data center projects. According to the Associated Press, the Digital Gateway Project would usher in the development of up to 37 data centers across 2,000 acres in Prince William County. 

DC Blox has acquired 72 acres of land in Conyers, Georgia, for a new hyperscale-ready data center campus. The campus is designed at full build-out to accommodate 750,000 square feet of space with 216 MW of total power committed by Georgia Power. 

Related:Startup Raises $55m for Portable Starlink-Dedicated Data Centers

Elsewhere, Amazon is moving forward with plans to develop a data center in Round Rock, Texas, while Meta has selected DPR Construction to build its $1 billion data center in Mesa, Arizona.

Across the border, Cologix is bolstering its presence in Canada through the acquisition of two Cyxtera facilities in Vancouver and Montréal, as well as the expansion of Cologix data centers in Montréal and Toronto. 

Samsung Electronics Company has delayed mass production plans at its new chip plant in Taylor, Texas, the Seoul Economic Daily said, potentially dealing another blow to the Biden administration’s ambition to increase domestic semiconductor supplies. 

Mass production at the upcoming $17 billion fab would begin in 2025, the newspaper reported, citing a speech by President Choi Siyoung of Samsung’s foundry business at an industry event in San Francisco. 

Samsung previously said the factory would start production in the second half of 2024 when it announced the investment in 2021.

Latin America Data Center News

In Latin American data center news this month, Scala Data Centers has launched a new facility in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

The 4.8 MW SPOAPA01 data center is configured to meet the demand for connection and distributed computing. According to Scala, the data center is dedicated to hyperscale customers and reportedly powered by 100% renewable energy.

Related:Top 10 Data Center Construction Stories of 2023

Oracle has announced the opening of a new cloud region in Colombia in partnership with Claro, a telecommunications operator. The company has also opened its second cloud region in Chile.

“With the opening of the Oracle Cloud Valparaíso Region, we’re strengthening our commitment to Chile's technological development,” said Joaquin Ma-Shichoy, managing director, Oracle Chile.

European Data Center Developments

Blackstone is expanding its bet on data centers through a new venture with Digital Realty Trust. The two companies will seek to develop four data center campuses in Frankfurt, Paris, and Virginia, with an estimated cost of about $7 billion. 

Under the terms of the deal, Blackstone will have an 80% stake and contribute $700 million in capital initially, while Digital Realty will own 20% and manage development and day-to-day operations. 

Blackstone cited the “AI arms race” that’s fueling demand for data centers. The properties generally house servers and routers to support technology such as cloud services and often require vast amounts of power to run. 

In Norway, Green Mountain has completed the first of three new data center buildings for TikTok, which will support the short-form video giant’s increasing data storage needs in Europe. 

The 30 MW data center is expected to go live in the second quarter of next year, forming part of TikTok’s ‘Project Clover’ initiative. Once completed, the campus will become Europe’s largest data center run on renewable energy. 

Elsewhere in Scandinavia, colocation provider atNorth has announced its further expansion into Finland with a new site planned on a 21-hectare plot in the city of Kouvola. 

The FIN04 site will have an immediate power supply of 60 MW with the first phase, ready for operation in the second half of 2025. 

Working closely with the city of Kouvola and energy partner, KSS Energia, the site will recover excess heat from the data center to be recycled for possible reuse within the local community. 

Asia-Pacific Data Centers Builds

Vantage Data Centers is building a 16 MW data center in Taipei, which marks the company's entry into the robust Taiwanese data center market. 

Set to open in mid-2024, the new 20,000-square-meter facility brings the company to its eighth campus in the Asia-Pacific as it continues to expand its footprint in the region. 

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission has announced the opening of a “cutting-edge data center” at NED University in Karachi. 

The center represents a groundbreaking initiative to digitally empower universities and fortify their IT infrastructure, writes Business Recorder. 

NTT Global Data Centers Japan and TEPCO Power Grid have signed a joint venture to develop and operate data centers in the Inzai-Shiroi area of Greater Tokyo, Japan.

The initial plan is to build data centers in the Inzai-Shiroi with a total planned IT load of 50 MW. The new company, to be established spring 2024, plans to deliver first capacity in the second half of fiscal 2026.

Malaysian utility firm YTL Power International jumped to a record high in December, after its announcement of a partnership with Nvidia Corporation to build a 20 billion ringgit ($4.3 billion) artificial intelligence data center in the Southeast Asian country. 

YTL Power extended gains by as much as 5% on Monday to the highest since the company’s listing in 1997. The group confirmed the deal after markets closed on Friday, when shares climbed 6.6%.

Middle East and Africa Data Center Investments

Airtel Africa has launched a new data center business, Nxtra by Airtel, on the continent.

According to reports, the telco aims to build one of the largest networks of data centers in Africa with high-capacity facilities in major cities located strategically across Airtel Africa’s footprint.

Orange Botswana has cut the ribbon on what it claims is the country’s first-ever Tier 3 data center.

And finally, the UAE’s Ministry of Investment has signed a memorandum of understanding with Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to foster collaboration and investment in the digital infrastructure sector, specifically focusing on Egypt’s data center projects.

As per the agreement, the planned data centers have the potential to reach a combined operational capacity of 1,000 MW.