Equinix has completed its RJ3 facility in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Located in the Sao Joao de Meriti municipality, the 560-rack facility was first announced in May last year, alongside a $94 million investment.
The facility spans 1,467 sqm (15,800 sq ft), though other specifications have not been disclosed.
The power installation for the facility was assisted by a helicopter, as detailed in the company’s recent LinkedIn announcement.
Whilst the facility is powered with 100 percent renewable energy, the operator has faced concerns about its environmental footprint during the construction stage.
David Hall, SVP at AtlasEdge and former Equinix innovation director, commented on the post: “50 percent of the lifetime CO2 of a [data center] comes from construction and the embodied carbon of the infrastructure to build it. Flying stuff in with helicopters hardly makes that less bad.”
Compass’ director of client management, Canada and EMEA, Adam B. responded in a LinkedIn post: “Interesting to see one of the world’s largest data center operators posting a video this morning, bragging about using a helicopter in the construction of one of their facilities.
“As an industry that consumes ever larger amounts of resources, we need to be mindful of doing the right thing and working in the right way for the public good.”
Equinix said in a statement to DCD: "RJ3 is the first Equinix greenfield project in Rio, built from scratch on undeveloped land. Because of that, Equinix had to connect the land to the utility transmission lines by building a high voltage (HV) pole up a steep slope, inaccessible to standard cranes.
"By utilizing a helicopter in this unique situation, Equinix was able to build the pole in a fast and efficient way, optimizing resources and time, and minimizing environmental impact to the surrounding flora and fauna."
The company added environmental sustainability is "a fundamental tenet of [its] operations." The company's sustainability initiatives currently include Whole Building Life Cycle Analyses to prioritize data-driven decisions about sustainable design and materials choices, a three-step hierarchy to reduce embodied carbon; and following US Green Building Council guidelines, ensuring all buildings are certified to a LEED standard.
RJ3 is located near Equinix’s existing data centers in Rio Janeiro: RJ1 in Botafogo, and RJ2 in Del Castilho.
The company said the three data centers will be connected, including a redundant fiber link between RJ2 and RJ3.
Rio de Janeiro is a landing point for eight submarine cables, including AMX-1, BRUSA, and GlobeNet. Equinix said this will give RJ3 access to broad connectivity and direct access to the US and Central America.
Other operators in Rio de Janeiro include Ascenty, Scala, and Aligned. CloudHQ has also previously announced plans to develop a new data center campus in Rio de Janeiro, set to be operational this year.
