Equinix Building in Europe, Australia

As it begins to fill its newly-built data centers in the U.S., Equinix (EQIX) is boosting its new construction in its European and Asia-Pacific operations, the company said yesterday. Equinix will double the size of its Paris data center, which is at 90 percent of capacity, by adding 26,910 square feet of space. Equinix expects to spend $17 million on the additional space, which will open in the second quarter of 2008.

"The demand for premium data center and network exchange services in the Paris market continues to outpace supply," said Michel Brignano, Equinix General Manager, France. "A significant driver of today's expansion is the strong traction Equinix has seen in the Paris market from financial services customers, which rely on Equinix for financial grade security and high-performance services."

Equinix also cited strong demand in announcing that it will build a second data center in Sydney, Australia. The new 31,000 square foot facility will create space for an additional 650 cabinets, and be built on the same site as Equinix' existing Sydney data center. The project will cost $29.5 million, and open in the fourth quarter of 2008.

"As global demand continues to outpace supply, we continue to expand locally to meet market demands for both space and power," said Doug Oates, managing director of Equinix Sydney.

Equinix said the new Sydney2 center will be designed with the ability to switch from chilled water cooling to natural air cooling, under specific temperature and humidity conditions. Cool air, drawn from outside the building, is cleaned and conditioned to cool the center, resulting in reduced carbon emissions and energy consumption.