Saudi Arabia's Neom and DataVolt have signed an agreement to develop a 1.5-gigawatt (GW) net-zero artificial intelligence (AI) factory in its Oxagon zone. The development will take a phased approach, with phase one funded by an initial investment of USD 5 billion expected to be operational by 2028, Neom and DataVolt announced on Tuesday, February 11, 2025.
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Aligning with Saudi Arabia’s Vision
Aligning with Saudi Arabia's vision for a sustainable, data-driven economy, the factory will integrate a wide range of computing densities and energy-efficient architectures to address the global challenges posed by traditional data centers.
Neom says that Oxagon is set to become an industrial city in northwest Saudi Arabia powered by renewable energy. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centers currently consume between 1 to 1.3 percent of global electricity demand. With the advancements of generative AI, power consumption is expected to grow exponentially over the next decade, the partners noted.
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Commenting on the announcement, Vishal Wanchoo, CEO of Oxagon, said: "At Oxagon, we are accelerating a renewable energy industrial ecosystem that is set to power businesses with green energy and technology solutions. The agreement with DataVolt highlights the potential impact of the sustainable infrastructure Oxagon offers its tenants and sets the foundations for the first green-AI workload to come on-stream in KSA along with the necessary computing power for regional and global impact."
Rajit Nanda, CEO of DataVolt, added: "This agreement with Neom and Oxagon underscores our unwavering commitment to support the Kingdom's vision of becoming a regional digital and AI hub. The Kingdom's strategic location, coupled with its abundant green energy resources, aligns perfectly with DataVolt's mission in providing state-of-the-art sustainable data centers."
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Net-Zero AI Data Facility
As part of the agreement, Oxagon will lease land to DataVolt for the development of the facility and provide the data center operator with infrastructure support. The goal is for the facility to be entirely powered by renewable energy, offering a fully integrated, end-to-end data center solution. According to the partners, the project will utilise advanced cooling technologies and is designed to operate at net zero, addressing the global challenges.
Neom's Oxagon
Neom noted that Oxagon's location on the Red Sea coast, combined with access to sub-sea cables providing fiber connectivity, along with cost-competitive renewable energy, green hydrogen, and an industrial ecosystem, makes it the ideal location for DataVolt to develop a large-scale green AI factory.
