Hydro-Québec, one of the world’s largest hydroelectric producers, chose the consortium of three experts – Veolia, Pomerleau Inc.[1], and Ehvert Mission Critical[2] – to finance, design, build and operate its new data center.
Hydro-Québec manages the data of more than four million customers. The new data center, located near Montréal, will see its power capacity expand progressively, from 1.6 to 4.5 megawatts (MW), over the 20-year contract. Following construction completion in 2016, Veolia will provide facility maintenance and property management services for the center, ensure security on site and manage energy systems 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
An efficient cooling technology
Certified Tier III by the Uptime Institute[3], the global data center authority, the facility will use outside air in the cooling system to optimize energy efficiency; the aim is to achieve a power usage effectiveness (PUE) rate lower than 1.3 – an exceptional performance among data centers.
“We’re proud to be in a consortium with reputed partners to operate Hydro-Québec’s state-of-the-art data center – built for the highest standards of security, reliability and redundancy,” said Philippe Blain, Vice President, East Canada for Veolia North America’s Municipal and Commercial Business.
« “The data center is on the cutting edge of technology. The project fits with our long-term plan of focusing on contracts involving alternative financing arrangements such as design-build-finance-operate, where we have developed strong expertise,” concluded Pierre-Luc Dumas, Pomerleau’s Vice President – Public Infrastructure Development.
[1] A leading construction firm in Canada
[2] A data center specialist
