Northern Data AG to expand HPC data centre

One of the world’s largest providers of high-performance computing (HPC) is expecting to expand its HPC data centre in Texas.

The Northern Data AG data centre will expand to an operating capacity of 1000 MW within the first year, with a further expansion to 3.6 GW planned by 2023 at the latest.

"We are currently ramping up our capacity as planned and build up in stages to now reach a capacity of one gigawatt by the end of the current year,” said Aroosh Thillainathan, CEO of Northern Data AG.

The wholly owned Northern Data subsidiary Whinstone US operates a large data centre for HPC applications using an innovative cooling system and a self-developed artificial intelligence (AI) capable of covering an area of 40 hectares, corresponding to an expansion of around 57 soccer fields through the control of hundreds of thousands of high-performance computers operating in parallel.

The first customers of the data centre, who are now operational, are large international corporations, including the multibillion-dollar Japanese SBI Group.

"We are thrilled to be one of the first customers at Northern Data's site in Texas, the largest mining and HPC data centre in the world," said Carson Smith, CEO of SBI Crypto.

"We planned this together in advance, and once all the pieces came together, Northern Data reliably executed the build-out. We know we can depend on their capabilities if we expand our operation. We are also excited to also collaborate with them on our mining pool, other software and strategic initiatives."

"We are pleased that Northern Data has chosen Rockdale, Texas, as the location for its data centre. With our abundant reserves of environmentally friendly natural gas and our rapidly growing wind and solar industries, we have everything it takes to ensure its clean, secure and highly cost-effective energy supply. We are excited to continue our partnership with the leading provider of HPC facilities and look forward to their continued growth in Texas,” said Milam County Judge Steve Young.

In view of recent positive developments, the company intends to provide investors an updated guidance for 2020 together with an expanded outlook for 2021 in due course.

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