American data centre REIT Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) has unveiled plans to expand its International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre in Silicon Valley, located at its Great Oaks campus in San Jose.

The US$142 million facility, named SV11, is expected to open June 30, 2021, and will support the increasing demand from organizations for premium data centre services to accelerate business performance and drive their digital transformation agendas.

The operator said SV11 is targeting LEED Silver certification with an ultra-low design average annual Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.17. SV11 customers can benefit from reductions of their CO2 footprint through Equinix’s renewable energy procurement strategy and the use of energy-efficient systems throughout the facility.

Additionally, with expansion of the current Bloom Energy fuel cells, the campus is planned for 20 megawatts (MW) of capacity, and will be the first time Equinix will use the system as primary generation with utility electrical grid and generators as backup sources. This continues Equinix’s exploration of alternative fuel sources for both energy reliability and sustainability.

Jon Lin, president for Americas at Equinix, said: “In fact, 47% of respondents in a recent Equinix survey of enterprise IT decision-makers said they have accelerated their digital transformation plans. SV11 is another example of our commitment to provide our customers with the right places, partners and possibilities for their digital transformations now and in the future.”

Equinix data centres in the Silicon Valley region are the business hub for more than 700 customers, and Silicon Valley represents the third-largest colocation metro in the Americas region and ninth globally.

With the addition of SV11, Equinix has invested more than $1.25 billion in the local economy including its Great Oaks campus and has additional land in the area for future expansion, as demand arises.

These facilities house rich ecosystems that allow network and content providers, cloud and IT service providers, and enterprise customers to quickly and efficiently exchange critical business data with their customers and partners through interconnection.

According to Stefanie Williams, Senior Research Analyst for 451, part of S&P Global Market Intelligence: “The multi-tenant data centre industry in Northern California has continued to see steady demand over the past several years, and this growth will be ongoing for the near future.

“IT firms of all kinds – from cloud and software to gaming – are driving the demand for connectivity and the ability to be in close proximity to clouds, partners and users. Equinix is expanding its presence in Silicon Valley to meet these potential customer requirements for digital infrastructure, while focusing on designing and operating a facility in line with its internal sustainability objectives.”