Saudi Arabia Launches 480-MW Gov't Data Center

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) RIYADH, Jan 1 (KUNA) -- The Saudi Data & AI Authority (SDAIA) has launched a new governmental data center covering 30 million square feet in Riyadh with an estimated capacity of 480 megawatt.
In a statement following the launching, SDAIA President Abdullah Al-Ghamdi said the data center project, which is backed by Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Mohammad bin Salman, is meant to boost the kingdom's economy to be among the economies based on data and artificial intelligence (AI).
The project, also called "Hexagon" data center, reflects SDAIA's strategic initiatives in the field of data centers, he said, adding that more data centers would be launched.
The project marks a qualitative leap towards rendering the Kingdom a global data hub, promoting data sovereignty and security, enabling innovation and digital economy, and attaining the Kingdom's Vision 2030 goals, he remarked.
The center has been designed in line with the global engineering standard (TIA-942) for data centers and with an operational system based on independent dual paths and systems that ensure continued operation and efficient services even in the most extreme conditions, Al-Ghamdi noted.
He boasted that SDAIA's strategy of data centers would lead to cutting roughly 30,000 tons of carbon emissions annually and would contribute around 10.8 billion riyals (about USD 2.88 billion) to the kingdom's gross domestic product (GDP). (end)
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