Datum Datacentres, formerly Teledata, is investing £30 Million into a new data centre facility which will harness heat re-use capabilities to support the local community. The site was visited by Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar, Executive Member for Finance and Resources at Manchester City Council, and Labour Member for Rusholme Ward. Also present were Matt Edgley (Chief Operating Officer for Datum Datacentres) and Andrew Morris (Managing Director and Head of Infrastructure Equity at UBS Asset Management, who acquired Datum Datacentres in 2021.
Councillor Akbar visits site of new data centre development in Wythenshawe
Posted on in Press
The new data centre facility
About the new data centre facility
26 March 2024, Manchester – Datum Datacentres welcomed Councillor Rabnawaz Akbar, Executive Member for Finance and Resources at Manchester City Council and Labour Member for Rusholme Ward, to the site of the firm’s new facility in Wythenshawe. The £30 Million project will see Datum build a new data centre which will harness the waste heat that is created by the facility for conditioning, reuse and delivery to local projects in the Wythenshawe area.
The new data centre will be situated in the heart of the Wythenshawe Civic Centre which is earmarked for regeneration. Joined by techUK earlier this month, the firm hosted a round table event which saw industry representatives from across Manchester come together with council members to discuss the important role that data centres play in the tech ecosystem, the opportunities provided by data centres for Manchester and how the sector can support new industries in the North West’s digital economy.
““Data centres are an important piece of Manchester’s Digital Economy, attracting investment and opportunities for businesses to thrive. It’s particularly positive to see the commitment of data centre operators such as Datum to align with our regeneration plans in Wythenshawe and our city’s net zero targets by building more sustainable data centres.”
Sustainability initiatives
The new data centre (MCR2) is being developed next door to Datum’s existing Manchester facility and the most up to date sustainability best practices and standards are being embedded across all parts of the build process, from design to implementation.
The system is being designed so that heat exchangers can be used to transfer the thermal load of the data centre cooling loop to a local community heating network via a heat pump system, which will also reduce the amount of energy needed to deliver the required data centre cooling operation.
The facility will be powered using clean energy from renewable sources with green certificates and solar PV roof panels. The PV system will generate over 83,000 kWh/yr with a CO2 emissions reduction of over 7.4 tonnes annually.
“As our recent report outlined, the data centre industry is committed to sustainable practices and addressing the challenges ahead is imperative for the successful integration of data centre heat into district heating networks. It is encouraging to see key stakeholders from different parts of industry and public officials come together to collaborate and discuss how heat re-use could support the local communities of Manchester and to ensure long-term viability and alignment with sustainability goals.”
Datum's financial backing
Datum is backed by UBS Asset Management after being acquired by UBS Asset Management (UBS-AM) Real Estate & Private Markets (REPM) in 2021. Providing sustainable, enterprise grade colocation to businesses across the UK through its network of purpose-built, highly secure, highly connected carrier neutral data centres, Datum works to support the responsible long-term growth of its clients.
“Businesses in the Manchester data centre sector individually face the same challenges; both in day-to-day operations and in areas key to supporting strategic growth and development. If we are to meet ambitious sustainability targets, address skills shortages and continue to succeed as the platform for regional tech sector development, forums such as the techUK roundtable event involving industry bodies, local authorities and data centre operators have to take place. Developing connections and understanding views on all sides is absolutely key to the progress we need to make, collectively.
About Datum Datacentres
Datum Datacentres provides enterprise grade colocation through its network of sustainable, carrier neutral data centres. A platform for digital transformation, the firm works with its ecosystem of partners to provide solutions that support long-term business growth whilst helping clients to achieve their ESG goals. Backed by UBS Asset Management, Datum acquired Manchester data centre provider, Teledata, in 2022. The Datum Group’s data centre portfolio consists of two built and operational data centres (FRN1 in Farnborough and MCR1 in Manchester) with two further facilities in the pipeline (FRN2 and MCR2). The firm’s secure and resilient facilities are trusted by an impressive and growing client list of organisations from the private and public sectors, serving vertical markets from finance and insurance through IT security services, defence, and engineering, and including companies from the FTSE 250 and Fortune 500.
www.datum.co.uk
Media contact:
Anna Nicholls
Group Head of Marketing
anna.nicholls@datum.co.uk
T: 0161 498 1200
M: 07598 790 468