On the surface, many retired manufacturing facilities, power plants, steel mills and other industrial sites look ideal for data center development. These sites may have plentiful land and infrastructure to support 50 MW or more. However, this type of adaptive reuse calls for a more nuanced look through a data center site assessment, focused on environmental liabilities and whether the site can actually support the use.
The land may require expensive remediation depending on the site’s prior use. Cvengros also recommends evaluating other factors, such as the number of fiber providers and type of fiber in the area. Developers and Users require three to four redundant providers fed by redundant paths.
“Most importantly, it is vital to have an agreement with the utility to supply your site with power. Just because the infrastructure is there doesn’t mean the utility can provide it,” he cautions. Determining early what a site actually needs versus what the utility can deliver is essential.
Additionally, data center sites need to be away from potential locational risks. If the site is located in a floodplain, at the end of an airport runway, next to train tracks traveled by high-speed trains or near chemical plants with combustible materials, it likely won’t work due to the mission critical aspect of these facilities.
