AirTrunk to build hyperscale data center in Japan

AirTrunk has plans to build a 300+ megawatt hyperscale data center in the region on Inzai, Tokyo, with plans to open the first phase of the facility in late 2021.

AirTrunk says the plans indicate its intention to enter the largest data center market in Asia - Japan, except for China. The company also operates five other data centers in the Asia Pacific region.

AirTrunk TOK1 will be designed to support public cloud customers' demand for growing capacity requirements in Japan.

“Japan is a highly developed market with strong international connectivity, underpinning its position as a technology and data center hub in Asia. The rapid increase of cloud adoption in Japan will be enabled by critical infrastructure, including hyperscale data centers like TOK1,” says AirTrunk founder and CEO Robin Khuda.

Khuda adds that Japan will be the next major region to accelerate cloud adoption.

“TOK1 is part of our ongoing commitment to deliver secure, reliable, scalable, and cost-effective infrastructure for our cloud customers in key Asia-Pacific markets. We're ensuring operational excellence and a consistent experience for our customers across our data center platform.

The TOK1 data center will comprise seven buildings across 13 hectares. The carrier-neutral center will deliver international and domestic capabilities, with multiple fibre paths to the campus.

Japanese construction conglomerate Daiwa House will lead the build.

AirTrunk has also secured high voltage power to the site, with dedicated 66kV substations to power the data center. AirTrunk's design will result in an ultra-low power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.15, delivering significant energy efficiency, the company states.

AirTrunk's head of Japan, Nori Matsushita, explains that the local Japanese team will leverage AirTrunk's global data center expertise and regional standards gained from its hyperscale data center developments in Sydney, Melbourne, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

The TOK1 data center will also provide investment opportunities and job creation for hundreds of people during the build and ongoing operation.

Earlier this year, Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund 2 (MAIF2) led a consortium that included Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets-managed infrastructure fund, as well as Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), to acquire an 88% stake in AirTrunk. The move helped to value the company at more than AU$3 billion.

The move also provided necessary capital and expertise to further realise AirTrunk's expansion plans across Asia Pacific.

AirTrunk's other data centers are in Sydney West (130 MW), Sydney North (110 MW), Melbourne (130 MW), Singapore (60 MW) and Hong Kong (20 MW). Collectively the AirTrunk platform will deliver total capacity of more than 750 MW across the markets once TOK1 is complete.