LONDON, July 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

- Energization announced at one of UK's largest data centre developments 

- KAO Data's first data centre on target for December 2017 practical completion 

KAO Data Campus in Harlow, the £200m science and technology data centre development at the heart of the London-Stansted-Cambridge corridor, has announced the full energization of its data centre campus nearly two months ahead of schedule.

Paul Finch, Chief Operating Officer at KAO Data says, "Taking power out of the critical path de-risks the delivery, positioning the project for further success. It is also an important step towards the realization of phase one of the development. With the first building due to be declared watertight in July, energization of the site means that installation of engineering infrastructure can go ahead without hindrance."

KAO Data Park has secured a 43.5 MVA power supply served by its own UKPN adoptable substation. The company has made a significant investment in the power train, with three primary transformers in N+1 configuration independently fed from the primary grid to ensure maximum resilience for all four buildings on the site, which will house sixteen technology suites in its final built-out state.

Paul Finch continues, "Energization of the site is a serious tick in the box for any data centre owner and operator. We can now proceed through levels 1 to 5 of the commissioning process to keep the facility on target for its practical completion by December this year. Keeping this project on time and on budget is to the credit of a very accomplished and dedicated professional and contracting team. Particular credit goes to Matrix Networks in collaboration with JCA Engineering."

With power secured and available to cover the capacity requirements of the entire campus, KAO Data are about to enter negotiations for a power purchasing agreement to supply 100% renewable energy for customers who wish their data centre operations to be based on zero carbon platform bolstering their sustainability credentials at each of KAO's sixteen data halls.

Councillor Tony Durcan, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration and Enterprise at Harlow Council, a part-funder of the infrastructure works, said, "The Council was pleased to be a partner in this important development for the town. The data centre campus is a significant element in the continuing science and technology-led economic development of Harlow. It will also be a strong complement to our adjacent Science Park. I am delighted that the KAO Data team has reached this significant milestone ahead of schedule and look forward to completion of the first building."

The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) also supported the KAO Data development with £2.5m repayable loan funding through the Local Infrastructure Fund (now replaced by the government's Home Building Fund). A spokesperson said, "The HCA, in close collaboration with Harlow Council, is really pleased to have played a part in the successful delivery of this ambitious project within the Harlow Enterprise Zone."

About KAO Data 

Situated in the London-Stansted-Cambridge technology corridor, KAO Data Campus is a £200m development comprising four 8.8MW data centres, each split into four 2.2MW halls over three floors, to provide a total of around 150,000 sq.ft white space. The facilities are served by a dedicated and redundant 43,5MVA power supply. The technical capability, hyper-connectivity strategy and secure data resilience of KAO Data Campus makes it ideally placed to support a range of enterprise businesses, including financial services, life sciences, defence and the health sector.

For more details, please visit www.kaodata.com

About Home Building Fund 

Launched in October 2016, the Home Building Fund (HBF) is a £3B fund to support SME developers and to provide finance for complex infrastructure schemes (in preparing sites for housing developments).

More information can be found at https://homebuildingfund.campaign.gov.uk/

Press Contact
Spa Communications for KAO Data
Rory Flashman-Wells
Tel.: +44-1892-511413
rflashman@spacomms.com

SOURCE KAO Data