APL supports Terrinnov in the creation of a regional data center as part of a sustainable region project

Customer name :	Territoire d’Innovation (Terrinnov)
Area of business :	Public sector
Accompanying mode :	Project Management Assistance
Type of service :	Strategic support with the creation of a data center

As part of a development concession, the local public company Territoire d'Innovation (Terrinnov) has been appointed by the Pays de Gex community of municipalities to develop a 65 hectare business park in Ferney-Voltaire, a town immediately adjacent to Geneva international airport, the international organizations district and CERN. Located on the Franco-Swiss border, this new economic development zone, with low environmental impact, is part of the Greater Geneva project.

APL was commissioned by Terrinnov to study the possibility of establishing a data center, from which the waste heat would be fed into an energy network to heat residential and tertiary buildings in the new Ferney-Genève Innovation district. Having confirmed the technical and economic feasibility of establishing a data center, APL is supporting Terrinnov in the selection of a hosting professional to operate this data center.

Assignment objectives

To assess the technical and economic feasibility of establishing a data center
To pre-dimension the data center so that it meets regional hosting needs as well as those of the energy network (recovery of waste heat)
To design a data center with a very high level of service continuity and environmental performance
To identify potential hosting professionals to operate the data center

Services provided

Market analysis and assessment of potential hosting demand in Greater Geneva
Pre-dimensioning of the data center to meet the needs expressed and the various configurations of hosting requirements (standard racks, significant computing power, etc.)
Estimation of the project’s CAPEX and OPEX budgets
Design according to industry standards
Promotion of the project at a local level
Assistance in selection of the future operator

Client benefits

Confirmation of the economic viability of the data center (potential demand for the provision of cloud services and IT hosting)
Construction of a moderately-sized data center with a sufficient occupancy rate to cover the needs of the energy network and the data center’s future clients
Integration of the data center, with very high service continuity (Tier 3) and environmental performance (target PUE of less than 1.3), within a mixed-use building including a waste heat recovery system
Support to identify and select the future data center operator