DCI Data Centers to build new facility in Canberra

DCI Data Centers (DCI) has secured land and power to build a 20 MW, TIER-III, Zone 3+, secure cloud edge data centre, called CBR01, to service the Canberra market.

DCI Data Centers Chair and Brookfield Managing Director Udhay Mathialagan said the new facility situated in the Poplars Innovation Precinct, Jerrabomberra, is the first to respond to the Commonwealth’s mandate to supply geographical and supply chain diversity for government and public cloud workloads at scale.

“This new data centre is the first site to offer true resiliency in power provision that not only answers a call from the government to support their Cloud First Strategy, but will provide unparalleled security for our customers. It will also be one of the major contributors in driving urban development within the new precinct,” he said.

DCI is one of the first to commit to the precinct, which has a focus on defence, space, cybersecurity and high-tech manufacturing sectors.

CBR01 will operate on a separate grid to Canberra. This is due to a multiparty agreement and investment between DCI, Poplars and other power users that will see Essential Energy build a new 132 kV powerline to Poplars, unlocking the site’s development potential and removing barriers for other like-minded businesses to set up in the precinct.

“This separate grid will support cloud services and provides resilience for the Canberra market and Capital region. It also means that with our commitment to the site we will expedite the development of the precinct, which will positively impact the region for future generations,” Mathialagan said.

Malcolm Roe, DCI CEO for Australia and New Zealand, said the company’s fleet of highly certified data centres purposely located in Sydney, Adelaide, Darwin and now in the Greater Canberra area completes DCI’s Australian strategic growth plan to provide a protective ring around the country.

“We are delighted to announce that CBR01 closes the loop with the Canberra and Capital region at our core,” Roe said.

“We have been aggressively implementing our growth strategy over the last two years, which will inject $1.5 billon into the Australian economy and transform the way we work into the future.”

The new data centre will have an initial capacity of 20 MW, with eight data halls and dedicated secure offices and storage over the 4 ha site. The innovative data centre design brings together environmentally efficient technologies and construction methods, meaning emerging customer demands can be addressed efficiently and promptly.

“Our approach to construction has a laser focus on sustainability, including industry-leading delivery of new cooling technologies which significantly enhance our power and water utilisation effectiveness. This allows our customers to achieve a substantial reduction in energy costs and environmental emissions,” Roe said.

“Our growing Australian data centre footprint will be in the region of 100 MW by 2024.”

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