CyrusOne ,a leading global data center developer and operator specializing in delivering state-of-the-art digital infrastructure solutions, has officially broken ground on its fifth data center in Frankfurt (FRA5), strategically located in Hanau, 25 km east of the center of Frankfurt, Europe's data center capital.
CyrusOne announced in November 2021 that it was further expanding its presence in Germany with the acquisition of a site in Hanau for the construction of a state-of-the-art data center. The new facility will consist of two buildings with a total 18,000 square meters of technical space delivering an IT capacity of 54 megawatts, breathing new life into a historic part of the city that was once a dedicated industrial space.
Working closely with its neighbors and the City of Hanau, the company celebrated permitting alongside city officials in July 2023 with a formal ceremony that highlighted progress on sustainability and preserving precious materials during the demolition process for reuse.
The onsite ground-breaking ceremony, hosted by Carsten Schneider, Managing Director for CyrusOne in Germany, attracted a prestigious group of city officials, and industry leaders, including the Lord Mayor Claus Kaminsky, City of Hanau; Erika Schulte, Economic Development Officer, City of Hanau; state secretary Dr. Walter Fischedick representing Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus, Hessian Minister for Digital Strategy and Development; and Peter Pohlschröder, Vice-Chairman for the German Data Center Association (GDA).
"It is a great privilege for CyrusOne to mark this important milestone and our ongoing development and expansion in Germany alongside such important regional leaders," said Carsten Schneider, Managing Director of CyrusOne in Germany. "We are tremendously proud of what this development stands for, with sustainability and biodiversity central to the design and operation of the data center. This, alongside our commitment to supporting the local economy with employment opportunities, as well as the digitalization of Hanau will remain ongoing priorities for CyrusOne in Germany."
Hessian Digital Minister Prof. Dr. Kristina Sinemus shared, "Data centers are a particular strength of Hesse's digital ecosystem - both in terms of turnover and employees, and in terms of capacity. Almost one-third of all German data centre capacity is located in Hesse, and for large data centres, the share is as high as 50 percent. With the new building in Hanau, CyrusOne is helping to strengthen the digital hub while continuing to provide a powerful and secure digital infrastructure. The fact that the project is also sustainable is important to ensure that the energy and greenhouse gas savings achieved through digital technologies are not offset by the energy consumption of digitalisation itself."
"With the establishment of CyrusOne, we are adding another building block in the implementation of our data center strategy with the aim of making our business location more resilient in the long term. We welcome the prospect of sustainable construction of the data center and know that CyrusOne is committed to its social responsibility and will make its contribution to working together with Goodyear and our municipal utilities to make the waste heat usable for the site," added Lord Mayor Claus Kaminsky, City of Hanau.
The modern facility will be characterized by energy-efficient operations and measures to ensure sustainability, including operating with an ultra-low design PUE and being fully powered by renewable electricity. The Energy Management System (EMS) will be ISO50001 compliant. Heat will be recovered and reused across the campus, preserving and utilizing important resources. The data center is designed to gain BREEAM "Very Good" certification as a minimum and will align to CyrusOne's corporate ESG objectives and the targets of the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact (CNDCP).
The building will feature 2,500 square meters of green walls that are not only aesthetically pleasing but will ensure improved air quality by filtering pollutants, increasing biodiversity by providing habitat for wildlife and reducing noise. This will also support thermoregulation and humidity control and will increase the building's energy efficiency.