Colt DCS breaks ground on the first of five new Paris data centres, the start of a €2.3 billion investment in France
- The data centre design, build and operating company has unveiled planned sites to increase its total Paris capacity to 170MW by 2031.
- Colt DCS has secured 100% renewable power agreements, and the design will use a hybrid approach to cooling, producing zero water waste.
PARIS, May 14, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Colt Data Centre Services (Colt DCS), a leading global provider of hyperscale and large enterprise data centre solutions, has broken ground on its second data centre in France with Colt Paris 2.
This facility is the first of three planned data centres (Colt Paris 2, 3 and 4) to be built on a new 12.5-acre site in Villebon-sur-Yvette, located to the southwest of Paris. Two additional data centres (Colt Paris 5 and 6) are also scheduled for construction on a second new site in Les Ulis, which spans 5.3 acres and is situated in proximity to Colt DCS' existing operational facility in the French commune.
This marks the beginning of a €2.3 billion investment in the country's digital economy, with five data centres planned to be completed by 2031. Combined, this will bring Colt DCS' total capacity to 170MW in France by the end of that year.
Each new facility has been designed following Colt DCS' Global Reference Design (GRD) and will use several low embodied carbon principles in the construction process to showcase the operator's commitment to sustainability. The five data centres will meet the performance requirements of large enterprise, traditional cloud, and artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. With power contracts confirmed at both sites, these facilities will be purpose-built to support the rapid growth of digital services across France and Europe.
Colt Paris 2 has been designed to meet the cooling demands of high-density AI workloads through a hybrid approach that combines traditional air cooling with liquid-to-chip technology. During the cooling process, there is zero water waste. The facility has also been designed to recover waste heat for use by the local community.
Having secured 100% renewable power, once fully operational, this AI-ready data centre will deliver 40MW with the ability to accommodate over 100kW of IT power per single cabinet.
Niclas Sanfridsson, CEO of Colt DCS, said: "Breaking ground at Colt Paris 2 is the exciting next step in our long-term commitment to France and its thriving digital economy. This project not only implements our innovative new design, but it also demonstrates our dedication to sustainable growth and innovation. By investing in renewable energy contracts and supporting the local community through waste heat reuse, we are helping to fulfil the growing demand for cloud and AI services while setting new standards for environmental responsibility."
Furthermore, Colt Paris 2 will be constructed by sourcing building equipment and materials from within Europe, with the development estimated to employ 300 people during construction and create over 100 new jobs within the local economy once operational. The project underscores Colt DCS' role as a trusted data centre partner, enabling its customers to efficiently deliver first-class AI solutions in a secure and sustainable environment.
About Colt DCS
We design, build and operate data centres for global hyperscalers and large enterprises.
Our global portfolio includes 13 operational data centres, with an additional 18 in development across 11 cities in the UK, Europe, and the APAC region.
We enable our customers to effectively plan for the growth of their business while also providing them with peace of mind. We provide secure, resilient, well-connected infrastructure with planned future capacity growth potential. We have over 25 years of experience in the data centre industry, delivering on our vision of being the most trusted and customer-centric data centre operator in the market.
We put the environment at the heart of everything we do by recognising this as a fundamental responsibility towards our planet. That's why we're taking ownership to reduce our environmental impact globally and make sustainability a key strategic driver. As part of our sustainability planning, Colt DCS has set comprehensive near-and long-term Science Based Targets to cut our emissions in line with the SBTi's latest Net Zero Standard.
https://www.coltdatacentres.net
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