Amberside Advisors supporting Kao Data Data centres KLON 01 and KLON02With sites in Harlow, Slough and Northolt, Kao Data recently announced a strategic expansion into Greater Manchester and that its newest data centre KLON-02 in Harlow was fully operational. Its second data centre on the campus, cited in the local technology park, like all the others, utilises 100% certified renewable energy.

“To support Kao Data with the financing of their data centre expansion, we created a bespoke financial model that accounted for a wide range of proposed funding structures and therefore helped the client drive out the best funding terms for their needs. In particular, working closely with Kao Data’s finance team to forecast the data centre pipeline allowed us to create sensitivities that enabled funders to fairly assess the company’s planned growth and as a result, offer the best terms.” said Philip O’Brien-Young, Senior Manager for Amberside Advisors.

The environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials of data centre projects make them an attractive prospect for funders, for many of whom 100% renewable-powered operations are absolutely essential.

In addition to using 100% certified renewable energy, Kao Data has pioneered the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) within their back-up generators and operates some of the most energy efficient and advanced infrastructure systems in the industry. Its Greater Manchester data centre will also set a new standard for sustainable infrastructure in the region, and offer a host of economic and digital benefits to the surrounding city.

“We’re delighted to have worked with Amberside Advisors, and are grateful for their insight and support as we drive the growth of our sustainable and advanced data centre platform, engineered for AI,” said Matthew Harris, CFO, Kao Data. “Amberside created a bespoke financial model which could adapt to our future expansion, as we scale into new and emerging markets.”

Adding to their potential to contribute to wider decarbonisation efforts in local communities, data centres in general offer opportunities for harvesting low carbon waste heat, which as part of a distributed heat network, can be used to warm local homes and businesses.

Seperately, Amberside Advisors have been active in the heat network space, supporting the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) in its mission to boost UK heat network activity through its recently expanded £485 Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF), where projects involving data centres as a source of recovered heat, have been successful in securing funding.

Reach out to find out more about how Amberside Advisors can support your investment in data centres.