WASHINGTON — One of the largest cloud services providers in Europe will open its first U.S. data center in Fauquier County.
Paris-based OVH will invest $47 million in its North American headquarters, expand the existing Vint Hill Business Park and create more than 50 new jobs.
OVH will receive a $1.25 million-grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund and will be eligible for sales and use tax exemptions on equipment. It will also benefit from funding and services from the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.
Data center demand in Northern Virginia is soaring.
Real estate firm JLL reports that the data center market in Northern Virginia is expected to exceed last year’s demand by more than 30 percent.
Developers are attracted to the region because of low electricity rates, and state incentives for data center construction.
The region is now home to more than 11 million square feet of data center space, most of it in Loudoun County, with another 4 million square feet either under construction or planned.
OVH, founded in 1999, currently operates 17 data centers with 250,000 physical servers.
Virginia competed against North Carolina for the OVH data center.
