Data centre expansion continues in the Gulf region – with a strong renewable energy angle. Digital infrastructure company Equinix has announced the launch of its third International Business Exchange data centre in Dubai to support digital opportunities for Dubai and the Middle East.
The cost, according to local press reports, will be more than US$100 million. The facility will be called DX3 and will be located on the same campus in Dubai Production City. as the same company’s DX1, which it acquired on entering the UAE in 2012.
DX3 is to be covered by 100% renewable energy – quite a feat given that, when fully built out, it will be Equinix’s largest data centre in the region.
According to the Data Centre Dynamics website, the first phase of the new facility offers capacity for 900 racks. Equinix has apparently invested US$60 million in this phase. Once fully built out, the new site will provide 1,800 cabinets of capacity across two phases or a total footprint of 12,000 square metres.
Equinix has four data centres in Dubai, and Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Muscat in Oman. The company is building a new data centre and subsea landing station in Salalah, Oman.
Equinix’s DX1 facility offers 5.6MW of capacity across about 3,800 square metres. DX2 launched in 2017.
