DAMAC Group accelerates Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Author: Beatrice

DAMAC will go live with facilities in Riyadh and Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) before the end of 2023.

The company announced at LEAP 2023 that a further 35MW IT capacity will be built in addition to the 20MW already under construction.

Each facility will launch with 5MW IT capacity in Q4 2023, followed by a further 5MW in Q1 2024. Both facilities will deliver a full 55MW of IT capacity by 2025. The investment in the Kingdom of circa $600 million is part of a $1 billion data centre development strategy.

DAMAC has accelerated its data centre roll outs due to local and international customer demand. Customers are finalising agreements to secure all available capacity within these facilities with deals closing before the end of 2023. The Dammam and Riyadh facilities are Uptime Institute certified Tier 3 classification and provide highly connected hubs in one of the regions fastest developing digital economies.

“KSA holds a unique position in the MENA region. Its borders touch more countries than almost any other and it is an ideal jumping off point for connecting across Africa and the GCC. Our facilities in Dammam and Riyadh offer local diversity as well as rapid access to subsea cable systems that serve regional and global needs,” says Hussain Sajwani, Chairman of DAMAC Group. “KSA has a young, digitally savvy population and a lot to offer in terms of digital innovation and smart cities. We look forward to supporting the growth of its digital economy.”

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the most locally and globally connected regions in the GCC with 14 in-service subsea cables, 11 of which land in Jeddah. The KSA national fibre network offers terrestrial connectivity to all major Gulf markets and acts as a gateway to key regional submarine cable landing stations.

DAMAC’s facilities support Saudi Vision 2030 and its strategy for accelerating development and growth locally.

“We are selecting locations for data centre facilities based on local demographics, the state of digital adoption, and opportunities to support long-term economic growth. Every site location we choose must meet strict criteria based on future demand rather than who needs rack space today,” adds Hussain. “Our Dammam and Riyadh sites more than meet these criteria and these will be two of several facilities that we are planning in the KSA. We’re excited to ramp up our builds and deliver data centre facilities that serve local market needs.”