Echelon Data Centres, the Irish data centre owner and developer, has announced that its first investment outside of its home country will be a new 20MW data centre facility in London’s docklands. The firm is stumping up £150m to build the data centre, which will be the first new facility to come on stream since the 1990s in an area where there are already 22 existing data centres. 

Located at The Point, Greenwich View, Echelon plans to have the data centre tenant-ready in 2020, and believes that it will offer the ideal location for low latency services for both Canary Wharf and the City of London. It will be a vital new addition to the area, as demand for services close to the financial centre continues to increase, while supply is severely limited. 

The new facility is currently a 130,000 sqft powered shell and therefore adjustable to meet tenant specifications. It also benefits from 13,000 sqft of available office space and on-site parking with charging for electric vehicles. 

Niall Molloy, CEO of Echelon Data Centres, said, “Finding 20MW of capacity in the heart of London’s business district is not easy. It’s a scarce commodity, given the location, the availability of power and the ability to accommodate high-density racks. We believe that this is the first new facility in the area since the late 1990s – and there’s generally a lack of space for existing facilities to expand – and we know that there is intense and growing demand for the capacity it will deliver.

“Our new site at The Point has excellent network connectivity being part of the Docklands Metropolitan Ring, is located in close proximity to number of global operators, and offers leases from 2MW upwards. It’s within sight of the City and of Canary Wharf, and is ideally located to serve both those international business hubs.”

Echelon’s London acquisition adds to its portfolio of data centre sites which include an 84MW site under construction in Clondalkin, near Grange Castle, west Dublin, and two further sites, one with planning permission for a facility with 100MW capacity, in Wicklow just south of the Irish capital. In January 2019, the company announced an initial €1bn investment in Ireland, and its intention to have 500MW of capacity in five countries by the end of 2025.