Case study · Advisory
Confidential Greenfield Data Center
An investor-grade decision package for a renewable-powered greenfield data center. Feasibility, conceptual design, and a full basis of design, delivered in six weeks.
The challenge
Land and power, but no data center.
A renewable energy developer held a strong site and deep expertise in solar power, but had never designed or built a data center. To decide whether to commit capital, and to bring partners and investors along, they needed more than a concept. They needed a decision package an investment committee could actually underwrite.
The site had to make sense technically and financially: the right capacity, the right power architecture for an on-site renewable supply, a defensible cost basis, and a clear view of the risks before anyone broke ground.
Our role
Blank site to investor-grade package in six weeks.
PGCIS ran the full advisory and design engagement. We opened with a requirements and feasibility memo, then developed a conceptual architecture and a BIM model, and built out a complete basis of design across eleven CSI MasterFormat divisions, from civil and structural through electrical, mechanical, controls, and security.
We designed the facility around its renewable supply: a behind-the-meter microgrid combining utility service at 161 kV, roughly 12 MW of on-site solar, and standby generation on a common medium-voltage bus. Cooling used a three-loop architecture sized for liquid-cooled AI racks, targeting a 1.4 PUE and zero water use.
Around the design we built the things an investor reads first: a phased development plan from 6 MW to 24 MW, a risk register with bounded cost exposure, photorealistic renders, single-line diagrams, and equipment schedules with lead times. We also managed the specialist subconsultants whose grid and market studies fed the model.
Outcomes
What happened
- Delivered a complete, investor-grade decision package, design plus economics plus risk, in a six-week engagement
- Designed a Tier III, concurrently maintainable facility on an N+1 basis, targeting a 1.4 PUE and zero water for cooling
- Identified $6.5M to $8.5M in capital savings through a consolidated power architecture
- Identified a further $0.9M to $1.25M by eliminating raised flooring
- Modeled project economics that lifted internal rate of return from roughly 12 percent to a 15 to 19 percent range under a power pass-through structure
- Bounded total project risk exposure to a defined $3M to $8M range, with mitigation paths for interconnection, geotechnical, and permitting risk