Swiss information and communications technology service provider Green Group has announced an agreement with ABB, a Swiss power and automation equipment vendor, to migrate an important part of its IT infrastructure into Green’s newest data center in Lupfig in the Canton of Aargau, Switzerland.

ABB, which operates in about 100 countries and employs about 150,000 people, will move IT infrastructure into the greenDatacenter Zurich-West data center of Green Datacenter AG, a division of Green. IT infrastructure that is currently distributed over several European sites will be consolidated into the facility. Details of the agreement were not disclosed.

The business agreement builds on an already extensive technology partnership between the two companies. In 2012, ABB supplied a direct-current (DC) power distribution system at the Zurich-West facility.

The 1MW installation covers 1,100 sq m of space and utilizes DC servers from HP. The DC facility supplements 2,200 sq m that uses AC power at Zurich-West.

greenDatacenter to double in size with addition of new wing
Meanwhile, an expansion project aimed at doubling the space in greenDatacenter has been underway since August, with the new wing scheduled for opening on 1 October 2014. The Green data center, with a total investment of CHF 100m (US$112.09m), was designed to be completed in three separate construction phases.

Wing A started operation on 30 March 2011 and was Switzerland's first carrier-neutral commercial data center built on a greenfield site directly for this purpose. The contract for the construction of wing B was awarded two years ahead of the originally scheduled date.

The block B project goes under the name LUPIN2 and involves the construction of an additional 8,330 sq m, of which about 3,500 sq m is usable data center space. The new wing will house two separate rooms for carriers, each with their own geo-redundant accesses. There will be room for between 1,200 and 1,500 racks in the new wing.

Franz Grüter, CEO of Green, said he “never dreamed” the company would have to expand “so soon” after opening wing A two years ago.

“We view the trust that they (companies that have chosen the data center) all place in greenDatacenter as a major obligation to continue to perform at the top level with respect to data center services,” Grüter said.

The greenDatacenter Zurich-West was the first data center in Switzerland to receive Tier III certification. Earlier this year, the facility earned the Watt d’Or award for the scale of the energy savings achieved through its use of DC technology.