New data centre shows Ark’s commitment to deliver zero carbon

Ark Data Centres says that its Longcross facility, due to come onstream in 2023, will deliver the definitive blueprint for socially responsible data centres through the deployment of the latest innovations and future-proofed technologies – enabling organisations to reduce their emissions and meet their own sustainability targets.

With 2021 the year when the world is looking to the UK for climate change leadership via the G7 summit and the upcoming COP26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in early November, Ark is affirming its commitment to drive towards zero carbon data centres in the UK. 2021 will see national and industry targets flow down to the public sector and individual businesses. Ark’s Longcross data centre will enable organisations to make sustainability commitments that they will be able to achieve within the aggressive timeframes set.

Longcross data centre is being designed from inception to minimise carbon emissions and dramatically reduce waste and water consumption. Its back-up generators, which in the data centre industry have traditionally been powered by diesel, will be replaced with gas generators that will have an immediate impact on reducing Nitrogen oxide (NOx) levels which have become dangerously high in city areas, impacting on asthma sufferers and even mortality rates.

From day one the generators are future-proofed and ready for hydrogen as the UK grid transitions. Eventually using 100% hydrogen will provide only energy, heat and water vapour – which will deliver zero CO2 and no harmful emissions. Longcross will be air cooled delivering the lowest PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) – the ratio that shows how efficiently a computer data center uses energy – in the industry. 

The Longcross site will incorporate extensive facilities for electric vehicles for employees and visitors. It will also feature ‘living walls’ of plants extensively around the park to absorb CO2 and offer a pleasant and attractive working environment.

Roy Gibbens, Executive Director, Sales & Marketing at Ark Data Centres said, “With Longcross data centre we’re reaffirming our commitment to ultimately deliver zero carbon data centres in the UK. We’re on a journey of dynamic continuous improvement utilising the latest innovations – and also future-proofing the facility so that it’s ready to take advantage of developments such as the move to a hydrogen-mix, then full hydrogen grid. In this way our customers can be assured that they can also commit to and meet their own aggressive sustainability promises and emissions targets, which will become increasingly important to regulators, investors and the public.”

The Longcross Park data centre is located in Chertsey, south west of the capital and is one of Ark’s four new facilities in the London area. It will join Alliance Park in W3; Meridian Park in N9 and Union Park in Hayes. Longcross Park is part of the Enterprise M3 Enterprise Zone and is one of the first commercial developments on the 300-acre Longcross Garden Village which will eventually comprise around 1,700 homes, community facilities including a new school, and an 85-acre country park. Longcross Film and TV studios, another technology innovator and rumored to be the resting place of the Star Wars Millennium Falcon, will be a neighbour.