Global Switch will add further data centre capacity in Sydney

Global Switch will build an additional $300 million fully fitted data centre in Sydney having received Part 3A Major Projects approval from the NSW Department of Planning. The 34,000 m² new data centre - Sydney 2 - will be adjacent to Global Switch's existing data centre in Sydney, which is already the largest facility of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere with 42,000 m² of space.

Sydney 2 will be a leading example of an environmentally sustainable data centre incorporating innovative design initiatives aimed at achieving long-term energy efficiency.

The data centre will have a cutting-edge on-site tri-generation system powered by a natural gas-fired energy plant and will provide an average of 1500 watts per m² as well as power for cooling and ancillary systems. In terms of water recycling, the new building will have facilities to harvest rainwater and to recycle water for use in the cooling systems, leading to a potential saving of 220,000 megalitres of water per annum.

The data centre will be one of only a handful of buildings in the world to target a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum rating which measures a building's environmental efficiency.

Development of the new centre has been driven by the success of Global Switch's existing centre at Harris Street in Ultimo which is now operating at near full capacity. Construction of Sydney 2 is planned to commence in Q2 2011 with completion 18 months afterwards and will create 400 construction jobs with around 50 full-time permanent jobs.

Global Switch currently operates eight data centres across Asia-Pacific and Europe which total around 280,000 m² of space and are occupied by internationally renowned corporate tenants drawn primarily from the financial services, telecoms and data services sectors.