Echelon Data Centres has announced a $250m agreement with Starwood Capital Group to jointly acquire and construct its second UK data centre, LCY20.
LCY20, which will have a capacity of 30MW, will join LCY10, a 20MW facility in London’s Docklands, in Echelon and Starwood Capital’s growing portfolio of DC infrastructure. Power is already fully installed on the LCY20 site, meaning the DC capacity can be delivered by late 2022, ahead of most other London area data centres.
Launched in 2019, Echelon Data Centres now has six sites across Ireland and the UK with a total potential capacity of up to 500MW. Its first two sites in Ireland – DUB10 (Clondalkin) and DUB20 (Arklow) – with capacities of 90MW and 100MW respectively, will be the subject of investment in the region of €1bn, and will create more than 1,000 jobs. Its third and fourth sites – DUB30 (Arklow) and DUB40 (Grange Castle) – will have similar capacities and represent similar levels of investment.
Echelon’s philosophy is that all data centre infrastructure should be powered by 100% renewable energy, however the company recognises that – in the short to medium term – halfway house solutions (such as on-site gas-fired peaking plants) may be necessary to support over-burdened grid infrastructure and to assist the transition to a wholly renewably-supplied grid system. Echelon’s DUB20 site will host a partnership with SSE Renewables which will bring 520MW of wind power into the grid, and will also be home to a biogas plant.
