New Data Center Developments: July 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

All eyes were on Ohio this month, amid a raft of new data center development announcements in the Midwestern state.

Google is understood to have earmarked $2.3 billion to develop its sites in Columbus, New Albany, and Lancaster. The tech giant has already spent more than $4.4 billion in Ohio since opening its first data center in New Albany in 2019.

5C Data Centers has announced plans to develop its next data center campus, CMH01, in the Columbus, Ohio region, following the acquisition of a live data center (see main image).

Located in one of the fastest growing data center markets in North America, the acquired site encompasses over 1.7 million sq ft of land with a live 66,000 sq ft data center. According to the operator, 200 MW of capacity is secured, with the first 100 MW scheduled for the first quarter of 2024.

The news comes as Microsoft was reported to have signed an agreement to build up to six data center buildings on more than 200 acres in Licking County, west of Ohio State Route 79.

Staying in the Midwest, Compass Datacenters has started to transform the former Sears headquarters site in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, into a hyperscale data center campus. 

Compass said it would construct “five hyperscale data centers” on the nearly 200-acre site. Construction of the campus will generate 1,000 local jobs. Once operational, the project will represent approximately $10 billion in local investment, according to the Dallas-based operator. 

Meanwhile, CyrusOne filed plans with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation to “up-fit” an existing facility in the city of Richardson, near Dallas. Costs are estimated to be around $80 million. 

Stream Data Centers has broken ground on a new 135-acre campus in San Antonio, Texas. Once complete, the San Antonio III campus will support up to five buildings and up to 1.5 million sq ft of data center space, supporting 200 MW of IT capacity at full build.

In other news, CIM Group closed on a $125 million loan commitment to fund the construction of Applied Digital’s high-performance computing campus in Ellendale, North Dakota, while Kinetic Seas said it has completed phase one of its planned AI data center in Oak Brook, Illinois. 

DataNovaX has announced the opening of the $1 billion Pioneer Park data center campus in Wichita Falls, Texas, while Cologix has acquired two data centers in Iowa from Connect Des Moines. 

On the regulatory front, Louisiana has introduced new legislation offering tax breaks for data center operators and developers. The news comes as Maryland passed a new law designed to make it easier for developers of data centers to install backup generators, which in turn will encourage the development of new data centers in the state. 

In energy infrastructure news, Reston, Virginia-based Bechtel has broken ground in Wyoming on an advanced nuclear reactor that uses sodium instead of water as a coolant, according to a June 10 news release from the contractor. 

More North American data center news:

European Data Center Developments

In Europe, Amazon will invest an additional €10 billion ($10.7 billion) into its cloud infrastructure and logistics network in Germany as the technology giant expands its network of data centers globally. 

The latest plans include €8.8 billion to build and maintain its cloud infrastructure for the AWS cloud computing business in the Frankfurt region by 2026.

Microsoft plans to invest $3.2 billion in artificial intelligence and cloud facilities in Sweden, its largest-ever infrastructure bet in the Nordic country drawing on the region’s rich supply of green energy. 

The move cements the tech giant’s footprint in the nation by adding 20,000 GPUs, or graphics processing units, at its three data centers. The company is also committing to training 250,000 in “essential AI skills,” according to a statement on Monday. 

The news came as CoreWeave announced it would invest $2.2 billion to expand and open three new data centers in continental Europe before the end of 2024. 

"Europe represents the next frontier for the AI industry and is an important milestone in the next phase of CoreWeave's growth," said CEO Mike Intrator. 

Ahead of the UK general election, data centers featured in the Labour Party’s manifesto for the nation’s tech sector. 

In widely reported comments, Peter Kyle, the shadow science, innovation, and technology secretary, said his party would “unblock tech barriers” that would enable the construction of more data centers, should it win the election. This includes new projects on green belt land. 

The Labour spokesperson said that lifting the construction barriers would enable the country to address the current shortage of data centers and meet rising demand for cloud computing and AI services. The UK general election takes place July 4.

In Spain, Prime Data Centers announced plans for a 40 MW data center in Madrid, and Microsoft opened its first cloud region in the country to “accelerate the development of the AI economy.”

Asia-Pacific Data Centers Builds

In Asia-Pacific data center news, a consortium of Singtel and US-based investment firm KKR is reportedly the leading bidder looking to acquire a 20% minority stake in ST Telemedia Global Centres in a deal worth $1 billion. Citing anonymous sources, Reuters said that a deal could be sealed or announced in early June. 

Meanwhile, policymakers in Malaysia are in discussions with potential Chinese investors to build data centers in the Southeast Asian nation as it seeks to attract more “high-quality” investments, according to Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli.

Microsoft, which earlier this year unveiled a $2.2 billion investment plan in Malaysia, has purchased 123 acres (PDF) to develop data centers in the country, and TikTok owner ByteDance is planning to expand its data centers in the Southeast Asian nation.

Further east, Amazon said it will launch a new AWS infrastructure region in Taiwan by early 2025. The Asia-Pacific (Taipei) Region will give developers, startups, enterprises, and other organizations “greater choice for running their applications and serving end users” in Taiwan, Amazon said.

In New Zealand, meanwhile, US-based surf park developer Aventuur has won approval to develop a project promising year-round access to waves warmed by heat from a nearby data center. 

Consent to proceed was issued by a panel appointed by the Environmental Protection Agency, the regulator said this week. As well as the surf lagoon and the data center operated by phone company Spark New Zealand, there will be a solar farm to power the site. 

Middle East and Africa Data Center Investments

MTN Nigeria has announced the construction of what’s claimed to be West Africa’s biggest data center. The Tier 4 data center in Nigeria has 1,400 racks and an expected uptime of 99.995%, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

In Ghana, Onix Data Centres has partnered with Africa Data Centres to advance the companies’ presence in West Africa with new developments.