VIRTUS Announces Expansion Into Continental Europe with New Data Centre Campus in Berlin
/LONDON, United Kingdom, 2 May 2023 – VIRTUS Data Centres (VIRTUS), an award-winning pure-play data centre owner-operator and part of the ST Telemedia Global Data Centres Group, has announced plans to expand into continental Europe with the construction of its first data centre campus outside of the UK. The new data centre, VIRTUS BERLIN1, will be located in Germany's capital city and is set to be operational in 2026.
Berlin is one of the fastest growing markets in Europe, making it a strategic location for VIRTUS' ongoing expansion. Built in Marienpark Berlin, the data centre campus will be easily accessible to both Berlin’s city centre, and its international airport. The Marienpark site is an innovation hub and home to a broad community of emerging technologies (including KI-Park Deutschland) which encompasses AI, critical infrastructure and additive manufacturing. The new data centre campus will be embedded into a larger ecosystem, enabling the growth of data and infrastructure savvy businesses around the campus. With Marienpark’s special focus on entrepreneurs applying computational sciences and research-driven methods to their core business, VIRTUS will partner with the local network to seek novel ways to bring together infrastructure and technical expertise needed to address computational challenges in modern Artificial Intelligence development with high performance computing.
VIRTUS BERLIN1 will consist of four buildings with a total of at least 90 MVA of incoming power. The data centres will be designed to serve hyperscale, government and enterprise customers and will provide a range of hosting and cloud services
VIRTUS is partnering with Investa, a real estate development company with more than 20 years of international data centre experience as the former e-Shelter development team, to develop VIRTUS BERLIN1. Investa’s local knowledge will help to accelerate VIRTUS' expansion into the continental European market.
VIRTUS BERLIN1 will be connected to a waste heat distribution system provided by Marienpark, which is a collaboration of Investa and GASAG, further reinforcing VIRTUS' commitment to sustainability.
Neil Cresswell, CEO of VIRTUS, said: "We're excited to bring our expertise and experience to Berlin and to expand our offering to customers in continental Europe. We also believe that our partnership - leveraging the local knowledge of a highly experienced European data centre developer like Investa - coupled with the leading operational expertise of VIRTUS obtained over 10 years of operating hyperscale and mission critical data centres in London, will be key to our success in this and other EU markets. We look forward to working with Investa to deliver a scalable world-class data centre campus in Berlin in a safe and sustainable manner."
VIRTUS BERLIN1 is part of VIRTUS' wider European expansion plans, which aims to meet the increasing demand for data centres across the continent. With over a decade of experience in the data centre industry, VIRTUS is well-positioned to use its expertise to deliver reliable and secure data centre services to existing customers that are expanding into - as well as new customers who are already located in - continental Europe.
About VIRTUS
VIRTUS Data Centres (VIRTUS) is a trusted global leader in the data centre industry and the UK’s leading data centre company, committed to delivering reliable, resilient and responsible digital infrastructure for our customers. As part of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC), VIRTUS Europe is the home of the cloud in London, and at the heart of Europe. Collectively, the STT GDC Group operates across Singapore, the UK, India, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines, providing businesses an exceptional foundation that is built for their growth anywhere. In December 2022, Macquarie Asset Management acquired a significant minority stake in VIRTUS via Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 7. Macquarie Asset Management is a global asset manager, providing access to specialist investment expertise across a range of capabilities including infrastructure, green investments, real estate, and other sectors.
VIRTUS has a proven track record of over a decade designing and operating the UK’s most efficient facilities. Committed to the highest standards of Operational Excellence – safety, security and availability – VIRTUS hires the best people to work in an industry which is increasingly essential to everyone and everything. We are laser focused on responsibly delivering solutions for the benefit of our customers, colleagues, suppliers, the environment and the world, every minute of every day.