Japanese real estate developer Mitsubishi Estate plans to invest about 1.5 trillion yen (US$9.3 billion) to construct large-scale data centers with a combined capacity of 2,500 megawatts (MW) in Japan, according to Nikkei recently, quoting company president Atsushi Nakajima.
The company aims to build about 10 facilities ranging from several dozens to several hundred megawatts, up to a total capacity of 2,500 MW. Thereafter, the firm plans to operate them in partnership with DC operators and investors, Nakajima reportedly said. This would make the company one of Japan’s leading data center operators.
More significantly, the company has already secured land and power supply infrastructure for five facilities in the Kanto and Kansai regions, representing a combined capacity of 1,000MW.
This is the developer’s first venture in Japan after garnering experience in the US where it is currently developing 14 data centers through 2030 at a cost of up to 2.3 trillion yen. Many affiliates of US tech companies have already committed to the facilities which are parked under its asset management company.
Nakajima reportedly said that demand for data centers remains extremely strong even as construction costs rise, noting also that these data centers are becoming indispensable infrastructure worldwide.
To move the projects forward, Mitsubishi Estate has set up an office and recruited data center experts while leveraging its strengths in land acquisition, DC design, and coordination with contractors and government authorities.
In Japan, data centers are typically developed by large telecommunications firms like NTT and SoftBank Corp. In recent years, real estate developers have entered the industry by taking the lead in constructing the facilities.