Over the course of the next two years, Belgian data center specialist LCL Data Centers is set to invest €100 million as it expands two of its facilities; LCL Brussels-West and LCL Brussels-North. A total of €120 million will be spent as it also seeks to improve sustainability measures.
Due to the increase in customer demand, both centers have been reportedly cramped and therefore in need for sustainable expansion in the coming years. The company, LCL, sees annual growth of around 10% and in order to match this demand the firm has announced subsequent investment.
Work is already underway in LCL Brussels-West, Aalst, to expand the current facility, anticipated to conclude development at the end of March 2025. New data rooms will be built, set to cover an area of 2367 m². Meanwhile, development in LCL Brussels-North, Diegem, is scheduled to begin in December this year, with a finish date of October 2025. A further four floors are to be added, almost matching the size of neighboring PwC’s office space. Additionally, construction has also begun on a mains connection, which will provide an extra 24 mW, in addition to a 4000 m² data room in the facility.
LCL’s developments seek to invest in sustainable technologies and solutions in the development of these data centers. Largely, the available budget will fall to renewable energy sources to improve Power Usage Effectiveness, otherwise known as PUE, in an attempt to reduce the business’ carbon footprint.
Solar panels will be installed onto the Brussels-North site, an announcement which comes alongside the news of plans to reduce PUE of all LCL’s facilities to 1.3 by 2030, by increasing investment into more sustainable, energy-efficient cooling installations. At present, it is only LCL Brussels-West which has a PUE of less than 1.3. A sum of €20 million has been allocated for sustainable development.