HKEx secured the site in Hong Kong's Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, where it will build a three-story data center and IT office space that will provide a floor area of 143,000 sq ft. The company will use the facility to consolidate all primary data centers that support the exchange's markets and clearing houses.
"Technology and data center operations play a key role at HKEx, ensuring the delivery of the secure, reliable, effective IT services needed to run the exchanges and clearing houses,"says chief executive Charles Li. "They also support reliable trading and clearing infrastructure for all HKEx participants and information vendors, as well as the investing public."
The project is estimated to cost $700m over three years. HKEx plans to complete the project around mid-2012, relocating its securities market data center about 26 months from now, and relocating the derivatives markets data centers 12 months after that.

TIETO BEGINS CONSTRUCTION OF NEW DATA CENTER IN ESPOO, FINLAND

One of the largest data center operators in the Nordics - Tieto - began building a new data center in Espoo, the second largest city in Finland and home of mobile phone giant Nokia.

Tieto says the first two 5,400 sq ft modules are due to come online by the end of 2010, with enough room to add 10 additional modules of equivalent size. Tieto operates 15 data centers, mostly in Finland and Sweden, and when the new facility reaches full build-out it will double its data center footprint in the Helsinki metropolitan area. "It is important for our customers that certain IT operations remain close to them geographically,"says Ari Karppinen, Tieto's country head for Finland. "Modern data centre technology will enable full-scale production of cloud computing services."Tieto targets mid-size and large enterprises in northern Europe, Germany and Russia, providing a range of IT infrastructure outsourcing services. Tieto's initial investment in the Espoo project is €18m, which the company estimates will cover the land and first two modules. Its other construction projects are in Sweden and Russia, where both new data centers are slated for launch in spring 2010.

DUPONT FABROS RESUMES DATA CENTER BUILD AFTER DEBT PAYOFF

DuPont Fabros, a large US data centeroriented real estate investment trust, resumed the development of its facility in New Jersey, which had been on hold until adequate financing could be secured.

DuPont chief executive Hossein Fateh had emphasised late last year that development would not take place at any of its properties until new funds were obtained. And it did.
"Over the course of the year [2009], we strengthened our balance sheet substantially,"says Fateh. "This included $700m of new financing obtained in the fourth quarter, which included, for the first time, capital from the unsecured bond market."
During Q4 last year, DuPont sold $550m in securities and took out a $150m loan. While the larger portion of new capital ($504m) went to paying off existing debt, the company has now said the remaining funds are sufficient to restart construction of NJ1 in Piscataway, New Jersey, and to begin and finish Phase 2 of ACC5, a data center in Ashburn, Virginia.
Phase 1 of DuPont's ACC5 facility in Ashburn, Virginia, is 84% leased and Phase 2 (now under development) is 50% pre-leased.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST HOME TO 62M SITE BUT TENANT SIGNUP NEEDED

A large greenfield site has been secured for the development of a data center in the Pacific Northwest region of the US.

Two companies are involved - Mission West Properties, a US real estate investment trust, and CDH, a data center design and construction consultancy. "We just got the land under contract,"says Chris Hardin of CDH. "We have 62MW available."

The site, located in Ontario, Oregon, is suitable for either one 300,000 sq ft data center, or three or four smaller projects. According to Mission West, power in Ontario is relatively cheap and the local government provides economic development tax incentives for data center buildout. Power at this particular site is priced at about $0.3 per kWh.

"With demand for cloud computing rising, we believe the need for mission-critical data center space will grow rapidly in the next few years,"says Mission West CEO Carl Berg. "For prospective tenants, the Mission West/CDH Consulting property in Oregon will provide outstanding economic development incentives, low power costs, and the ability to design and build a facility to suit specific needs."

Hardin said the two companies were planning to build a 62MW on-site electrical substation, as well as an evaporative cooling system. "It uses 40% less water than a chilled water mechanical system, and creates 40% less waste water."

The facility will be designed to accommodate the future tenant's needs. Since Ontario is not a major metropolitan area, Mission West and CDH will not begin construction before a suitable tenant is found.