Echelon Data Centres has announced a partnership with Starwood Capital Group to jointly acquire and construct its second UK data centre, LCY20.
The $250 million agreement will see the 30MW LCY20 constructed in Chesham, Buckinghamshire. Power is fully installed on the site, leading the way for DC capacity to be delivered by late 2022.
The new location joins Echelon’s LCY10, a 20MW facility in London’s Docklands, and brings the company’s portfolio to six sites across Ireland and the UK – offering a total potential capacity of up to 500MW.
Two of Echelon’s Ireland sites, DUB10 in Clondalkin and DUB20 in Arklow, will be the subject of a €1 billion investment in the region. Its other facilities in the country, DUB30 in Arklow and DUB40 in Grange Castle, will also receive similar levels of investment.
Echelon’s states its ultimate goal is for data centre infrastructure to be powered by 100% renewable energy. With that in mind, its DUB20 site will also partner with SSE Renewables to bring 520MW of wind power into the grid, as well as being the location of a biogas plant.
Niall Molloy, CEO of Echelon Data Centres, said, “Data centres are essential infrastructure – now, post-pandemic, more than ever. If we are to continue to benefit from low-cost, reliable and time-saving tech such as Zoom and Teams, if we’re to enjoy the speed of 5G, if we are to stream on-demand and if we are to look forward to the future of AI and the IoT, then increasing data centre capacity is a given.
“Echelon Data Centres is committed to providing that capacity sustainably – taking into account its responsibilities to people, the community, the economy and to the environment – particularly in the area of power.
“We understand that powering a data centre with 100% renewable energy cannot happen overnight, however our focus is on ways of achieving the goal and then mitigating impacts as we progress towards it. We are delighted to expand our very successful relationship with Starwood Capital in delivering this latest large scale data centre campus.”
