Central European data centre operator maincubes has unveiled plans to “invest hundreds of millions of euros” in a second colocation facility in Schwalbach, near Frankfurt.

With operations at the FRA02 data centre scheduled to commence in summer 2023, the new facility will include 75,350 sq ft/7,000 sqm of white space for IT plus office space, and have a power capacity of 20 MW to serve a non-disclosed “major tenant” that has already been signed.

maincubes has received support from Schwalbach’s local authorities to develop the project. Schwalbach has created frameworks through which it aims to attract sustainable digital infrastructure companies.

The company said the hyperscale renewable energy powered facility could be the first piece of a larger campus, and it is also planning to build additional sustainable data centres in the Rhine-Main region.

Oliver Menzel, CEO of maincubes, said: “FRA02 will extend our European data centre network with a focus on sustainability, allowing us to make an important contribution to the green digital transformation.

“This is not simply our answer to the regulations on reducing CO2 emissions that affect all infrastructure providers, it is intrinsic to our CSR vision. Our goal is to achieve climate-neutral data centre operations with our own resources.

“Sustainability is a key issue that we all have to assume responsibility for, and maincubes hopes to set an example in this respect. Together with our new and existing data centre tenants and our network of partners we intend to play a pro-active role in driving the green digital transformation.”