An official release from Equinix stated that sustainable innovations, including liquid cooling, high-density cooling, intelligent power management, and on-site prime power generation, will be incubated in the CIF in partnership with leading data center technology innovators including Bloom Energy, Zutacore, Virtual Power Systems (VPS) and Natron.

Raouf Abdel, EVP, Global Operations at Equinix, commented, “the data center of the future must be sustainable. Equinix is committed to sustainability globally as evidenced by its target to be climate neutral across our business by 2030. We are well on our way with over 90% renewable energy coverage worldwide. And thanks to the work we’re doing with partners at the CIF, we’re continuing to make significant advancements in the way we design, build and operate our global platform, with high energy efficiency standards.”

Equinix offers the following to its partners from the facility:

Generator-less and UPS-less Data Centers (Bloom Energy): Utilizing on-site solid oxide fuel cells enables the data center to generate redundant cleaner energy on-grid and potentially eliminates the need for fossil fuel-powered generators and power-consuming Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) systems.

High-Density Liquid Cooling (ZutaCore): Highly efficient, direct-on-chip, waterless, two-phase liquid-cooled rack systems, capable of cooling upwards of 100 kW per rack in a light, compact design. Eliminates the risk of IT meltdown, minimizes use of scarce resources including energy, land, construction, and water, and dramatically shrinks the data center footprint.

Software-Defined Power (VPS) with cabinet-mounted Battery Energy Storage (Natron Energy): Cabinet power management and battery energy storage system manages power draw and minimizes power stranding to near zero percent, leading to a potential 30-50% improvement of power efficiency.

The acquisition of these assets will enable Equinix customers to further respond to a key market trend that is enabling their evolution from traditional businesses to “digital businesses” — the need to globally interconnect with people, locations, cloud services and data. Additionally, customers will have the opportunity to operate on an expanded global platform to process, store and distribute larger volumes of latency sensitive data and applications at the digital edge, closer to end-users and local markets.

The acquired portfolio includes approximately 900 customers, with a significant number of enterprise customers new to Equinix’s platform, and it adds approximately 2.4 million gross square feet. It will bring Equinix’s total global footprint to 175 data centers in 43 markets and approximately 17 million gross square feet across the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific markets.

The transaction is expected to close by mid-2017, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Commenting on the deal, Steve Smith, President and CEO, Equinix said: “This unique opportunity complements and extends Equinix’s strategy to expand our global platform. It enables us to enhance cloud and network density to continue to attract enterprises, while expanding our presence in the Americas. The new assets will bring hundreds of new customers to Platform Equinix while establishing a presence in new markets and expanding our footprint in existing key metros. The deal will also provide significant value for shareholders as the proposed transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to our adjusted funds from operations per share upon close.”