A Kagoya Japan data centre at Keihanna Science City near Osaka
EdgeConneX on Monday announced its first data centre project in Japan, with the hyperscale specialist set to develop a Greater Osaka facility with a capacity in excess of 140 megawatts when complete.
The platform backed by Swedish private equity firm EQT is teaming with Kagoya Asset Management, an affiliate of cloud provider Kagoya Japan, on the development, which is expected to be one of the largest data centres in the Kansai area upon entering service in 2027.
The project aims to support increasing demand for robust digital and artificial intelligence infrastructure and meet the high-density requirements of AI and high-performance computing, EdgeConneX said in a release. The partnership gives the US-based company a development presence in a sixth Asian market after previous initiatives in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and India.
“Japan is rapidly becoming one of the most dynamic markets for cloud and AI services, and we are eager to bring our innovative, sustainable solutions to meet these demands,” said Kelvin Fong, managing director for APAC at EdgeConneX. “Together, we aim to set a new standard in sustainable development, ensuring this project benefits both the present and future generations.”
Advancing Infrastructure
EdgeConneX didn’t disclose the project’s precise location, saying only that the company is commencing a land lease permitted for a data centre in the Greater Osaka-Kyoto area.
Kelvin Fong, managing director for APAC at EdgeConneX
Kagoya Japan offers a range of server-hosting and cloud-based services and operates its own two-building data centre campus in Keihanna Science City, about 30 kilometres (19 miles) east of Osaka. Kagoya Asset Management’s bare-bones website was launched last September.
“We are delighted to partner with EdgeConneX in this landmark project to advance Japan’s digital infrastructure,” said Kagoya Asset Management president and CEO Sadahiro Kitagawa. “This collaboration signifies not only a major step forward in addressing the rapidly growing demand for high-quality digital infrastructure but also a strong commitment to fostering local economic growth and technological innovation.”
News of the project follows the October appointment of Masahiko Inoue as EdgeConneX head of Japan. Inoue, a former project development director at alternatives platform Aquila Clean Energy, is to play a critical role in forging relationships for real estate, power acquisition and potential joint ventures in Japan, EdgeConneX said.
Osaka’s co-location data centre market is forecast to rise from 366MW of operational critical IT load capacity in 2024 to 970MW by 2030, a compound annual growth rate of 18 percent, said Structure Research analyst Jabez Tan.
Favoured Destination
EdgeConneX joins a growing list of data centre investors entering or expanding in Japan, where operational capacity of 1.4 gigawatts trailed only China’s 4.2GW among APAC markets after the first half of 2024, according to Cushman & Wakefield.
In November, Singapore’s Keppel Ltd announced plans to buy a hyperscale data centre project in western Tokyo from the facility’s developer, real estate giant Mitsui Fudosan, on behalf of a private fund. The deal followed through on a framework agreement between Keppel Data Centre Fund II and Japan’s largest builder on the forward purchase of the project, which is the Temasek-backed conglomerate’s first data centre development in the country.
In September, SGX-listed Mapletree Industrial Trust and its Temasek-owned sponsor Mapletree Investments agreed to acquire a western Tokyo facility for redevelopment into a new data centre from Nagayama Tokutei Mokuteki Kaisha for JPY 14.5 billion ($100.5 million).
That same month, Singapore-based Empyrion Digital revealed its maiden investment in Japan with the planned development of a 25MW carrier-neutral data centre in central Tokyo.
In August, Hong Kong-listed ESR completed the 25MW first phase of its flagship data centre project in Osaka, with the milestone coming three months after the company announced plans to develop a 60MW Tokyo facility as its fourth data centre in Japan.
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