Recently established colocation provider DataVita is getting ready to open a 100,000 sq ft data center in Lanarkshire, Scotland.

It claims that the Fortis data center will become the most energy-efficient server farm built in Scotland, with an expected PUE of 1.18.

The cost of the entire project is estimated at £200 million (US$ 303.4m).

“The combination of renewable energy resources, political stability and naturally cool ambient temperatures make Scotland a compelling location for secure data storage, and it’s good to see the market expanding,” said Polly Purvis, CEO of ScotlandIS, the trade body for the digital industry.

The bestest

DataVita was established in January 2014 to operate the Fortis data center, which it calls Scotland’s largest purpose-built colocation facility.

The site is located off the M8 highway, between Glasgow and Edinburgh. It will host 2,000 racks once completeMax, all powered by 100 percent renewable energy.

DataVita says this will be the first facility in Scotland to be Tier III certified for design, construction and sustainable operations.

The company also claims that due to low PUE, the average public sector organization could save around £200,000 per year by moving away from inefficient in-house computer rooms to hosting their IT equipment at Fortis.

The construction work on the site is complete and the data halls are currently being fitted with equipment, with the first racks expected to be available in May. DataVita has already started offering guided tours to potential customers.

“Scotland is most definitely ready for a next-generation data center, and DataVita will put Scotland on the global data center map,” said Gareth Lush, commercial director at DataVita.

“We have a thriving IT industry but we are lacking the data centers to support this fully, resulting in valuable investment and jobs going outside of Scotland.”

The development is expected to create 50 high value skilled jobs over the next five years.