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Khazna expects to build more 100MW-scale data centres

21 October 2024

 

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The 100MW artificial intelligence (AI)-enhanced data centre being built in the UAE's northern emirate of Ajman is not the last for UAE-based data centre and cloud services provider Khazna Data Centres.

"In the near future, we will be announcing other projects on the same scale or larger than the Ajman data centre," Gregory Jasmin, the firm's senior director of business development strategy, tells MEED.

The executive says the 100MW data centre, once completed, makes Khazna Data Centres "by far the largest data centre developer and operator in the entire Gulf region".

MEED previously reported that London-headquartered construction firm Laing O'Rourke had started construction on Khazna's latest data centre project in Ajman.

The new facility is expected to cost about AED1bn ($272m) and be completed within 15 months. Etihad Water & Electricity Company will supply power to the Ajman data centre.

Jasmin says the company exceeded its capacity target of 300MW by the end of 2023, up from 126MW in early 2022.

The firm has grown significantly since 2020, when it had a capacity of just 40MW, following the 2021 merger of the data centre divisions of Khazna’s parent firm G42 and telecommunications firm e&, previously known as Etisalat.

The company is also expanding its presence in other markets, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kenya.

"By the end of this year and the start of Q1 next year, we will be in many [more] geographies," says Jasmin.

Asked about the top driver for the company's future expansion, the executive says: "AI, AI and more AI."

He adds: "This is based on what the [UAE] leadership wants, which is to have the UAE at the forefront of the AI revolution and with G42, we sit at the core of the infrastructure that is needed for AI.

"For many years, we were always looking to the West to see what we can do, but now we want to take the lead in building the infrastructure that is powering AI here in the UAE as well as globally," says Jasmin.

As things stand, the government's AI push has increased interest in building data centre capacity, if not changed the landscape entirely for Khazna.

In June 2022, the firm's CEO Hassan Al-Naqbi told MEED that increased digitalisation by government entities and enterprises, as well as the adoption of school- and work-from-home practices, mean that the Middle East region will continue to drive double-digit growth in demand for data centre services.

In addition, the general mandate for regional governments to retain data within their national jurisdictions is also a major driver for the growth of data centre services in the region, which was nearly double the global average at the time.

Green data centre

Known for being a major energy consumer, there is a growing awareness of how data centres can be made more sustainable or greener, particularly due to the cooling requirements, which are especially crucial in the Gulf region.

Jasmin says in some countries, such as Kenya, a 100% renewable energy powered data centre is now feasible.

Khazna's facility in Kenya is powered by 100% renewable geothermal energy and can go from a scale of 100MW up to 1GW, because "we are located in a green energy park that is fed by renewable energy currently at 900MW, but with the potential to grow to up to 10GW".

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Jennifer Aguinaldo

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