Intelligent CIO North America Issue 56 | Page 18

NEWS

Bloom Energy expands data center power agreement with Equinix surpassing 100MW

Bloom Energy has expanded its longstanding relationship with Equinix.

The collaboration now exceeds 100MW of electricity capacity to support Equinix’ s International Business Exchange( IBX) data centers across the US.
With approximately 75MW already operational and another 30MW under construction, this latest expansion marks a significant
milestone in the companies’ decade-long collaboration. What began as a pilot program in 2015 with just 1MW of fuel cells at a single IBX data center in Silicon Valley has scaled one hundredfold, supporting the critical digital infrastructure needed to meet increasing energy needs of AI-driven computing.
Bloom’ s fuel cells allow Equinix to generate on-site power at its data centers more sustainably than typical grid delivered energy. Bloom’ s systems also deliver clean power with virtually zero air pollution and no water use and provide an option when faced with grid constraints of capacity or distribution.
Aman Joshi, Chief Commercial Officer, Bloom Energy, said:“ With AI adoption accelerating and data center demand exploding, our ongoing relationship underscores the scalability and reliability of our fuel cell technology to support large and complex projects.”
David Rinard, Vice President of Energy Operations, Equinix, said:“ As the demand for power increases, we anticipate innovation in alternative energy technologies increasingly playing a key role in the availability of power going forward – Bloom’ s fuel cells allow us to generate cleaner and reliable electricity onsite at our data centers in a cost-effective way.”

Backblaze launches new data center in Canada

Backblaze has opened a new data region in Canada – Canada East( CA East) located in Toronto.

Canada’ s cloud services market is expected to grow at a CAGR of nearly 20 % in the coming years. The new facility was selected to address the performance and specific data sovereignty needs of Canadian businesses and organizations.
“ Data sovereignty and compliance are increasingly critical for businesses in Canada,” said Gleb Budman, CEO, Backblaze.“ By establishing a physical presence in the region, we’ re not only meeting regulatory requirements, but also building trust with customers who need specialized cloud storage at a fraction of the cost of what large hyperscalers offer. Having a local region enables us to provide faster, more reliable services to our Canadian customers.”
To further strengthen its Canadian market presence, Backblaze has partnered with
Opti9 Technologies, an international leader in hybrid cloud solutions and Canada’ s largest, award winning Veeam Cloud Service Provider( VCSP), as the exclusive Canadian channel for Backblaze B2 Reserve and the Powered by Backblaze program. Opti9 will play a crucial role in bringing these enhanced offerings to market.
Cory Mac Donell, Vice President of Sales & Business Development, Opti9, said:“ We are excited to launch this Canadian storage region in collaboration with Backblaze, which expands our overall cloud storage footprint in Canada. This partnership equips our Canadian partners and end-user organizations with the tools they need to thrive in today’ s fast-evolving digital landscape.”
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