European data center firm NorthC is to build another data center in Basel, Switzerland.

The company last week announced it has signed a contract to build a regional data center at the uptownBasel Innovation Campus in Arlesheim.

The first phase of the new facility, set to launch in mid-2027, will offer 5.5MW across 2,500 sqm (26,910 sq ft).

The site’s power usage will be offset via renewables, and the data center’s generators will use ‘green’ diesel – likely HVO. The facility will make its waste heat available for use in the local district heating network.

Alexandra Schless, CEO of the NorthC Group, said: “We are very pleased to announce this expansion of the partnership with uptownBasel. With the construction of the data center on their campus, we once again underline our commitment to Switzerland as well as our belief in innovation and the future.”

UptownBasel is developing a 70,000 sqm (753,475 sq ft) technology campus for Industry 4.0 in Arlesheim near Basel. The Schorenareal site was previously a manufacturing site for the engineering firm BBC and later its successor, ABB. The hub is being funded by the family of Dr. Thomas Staehelin and Monique Staehelin. Quantum computing firm IonQ is developing a data center in the area.

Hans-Jörg Fankhauser of uptownBasel said: “With NorthC, we have a partner at our side who is on our line. He understands the opportunities offered when you run the data center on a world-famous innovation campus! We want to be the platform for leading networks in the fields of medical technology, quantum computing, AI, and New Work.”

The partners are also aiming to bring start-ups and talent to Arlesheim at an early stage.

NorthC was formed in 2019 from the merger of Dutch data center firms TDCG and NLDC, originally a subsidiary of Dutch telecoms company KPN.

In recent years, it has begun expanding to other European countries, buying Netrics in Switzerland and the IP Exchange in Germany. It recently acquired a number of facilities across the Netherlands and Germany from Colt Technology Services.

The company currently has more than a dozen data centers across the Netherlands, eight in Germany, and four in Switzerland, with more in development in all three markets.

When it acquired Netrics in 2022, NorthC took over three data centers – two in Münchenstein near Basel and one in Biel – with a total floor space of 13,000 sqm (140,000 sq ft), more than 7.5MW of capacity. The company then acquired a 1.8MW facility outside Zurich a year later from IT services firm Kyndryl in a sale-leaseback deal.