Led by Utah Tech OG, Wes Swenson, Utah-based Novva Data Centers Will Spend $3.0 Billion to Build a 300MW Data Center in Arizona, its Sixth Since its July 2020 Launch

In a project Novva expects will take 10 million hours to construct over a decade, the new environmentally friendly data center will include 1.3 million-square-feet of facilities located on 160 acres in Mesa, Arizona, and will use an "innovative water-free air-cooling system, which is projected to conserve up to 650 million gallons of culinary water" annually.

In fact, by deploying a water-free cooling system, Novva says it will NOT discharge 350 million gallons of contaminated wastewater into local municipal systems that a comparably sized data center would.

South Jordan, Utah-based Novva Data Centers has announced plans to build its sixth next generation data center campus in the western United States, an operation that will cost $3.0 billion to build over the coming decade.

According to its news release, when completed Novva's newly announced Mesa, Arizona 300MW data center campus will

• "Take 10 million hours to construct,"
• "... Feature 1.3 million-square-feet in
• "Five data halls,
• "An office building and warehouse"
• "... (Located) on 160 acres of land," and
• "... Employ an estimated 200 people."

This new data center campus is the sixth announced by Novva and its Founder/CEO, Wes Swenson, since the company announced its presence in July 2020 with its plans to build a 1.5-million-square-foot campus in West Jordan, Utah in four phases, an effort expected to cost over $1.0 billion.

Since then, Novva/Swenson have announced five additional hyperscale data centers in

• Colorado Springs, Colorado (a 6MW facility acquired in August 2021 for $38.5 million but with plans to invest over $200 million to expand it to 30MW);
• North Las Vegas, Nevada (a new 100MW data center campus announced in September 2022 at a cost of $400 million);
• Reno, Nevada area (a new 60MW campus announced in May 2023; cost not disclosed);
• San Francisco, California (a new 28MW critical load facility with a cost of $500 to build-out); and, of course,
• The newly announced Mesa, Arizona data center campus (a 300MW campus expected to cost $3.0 billion).

According to its news release announcing this newest data center, Novva expects Phase 1 of its Mesa Data Center Campus will launch in late 2026 with "96 Megawatts of Critical IT Load" available when it begins operations.

As with several of its previously announced and/or launched hyperscale data centers, Novva is utilizing an "innovative water-free air-cooling system (in Mesa), which (is) projected to conserve up to 650 million gallons of culinary water" per year.

In fact, by deploying a water-free cooling system in Arizona, Novva says it will NOT discharge 350 million gallons of contaminated wastewater into local municipal systems that a comparably sized data center would.

Wes Swenson: The Man Behind Novva Data Centers

Although Wes Swenson's official, but brief, Novva Data Centers' biography understandably focuses on his work with then Utah-based C7 Data Centers when he was its CEO for 11+ years (prior to its acquisition by DataBank in 2017), the reality is that Swenson has (by my review) been working in and around data, data transport, data security, and data storage for 30 years of his 35-year-career.

This includes

• 6+ years with Novell in sales;
• 2+ years with SonicWALL/Phobos as CFO/COO (acquired for $268 million in 2000);
• 6 years with Forum Systems as President and CEO;
• 11+ years with C7 Data Centers as its CEO (acquired by DataBank, transaction terms not disclosed); and
• 5+ years with Novva Data Centers as its Founder/CEO.

Swenson was also in executive leadership positions at two other Utah-based firms that he led to acquisitions, namely

• Perimeter Labs, CEO (acquired in a private transaction in 2009), and
• Resolute Solutions, Chairman of the Board (also acquired in a private transaction in 2009).

When Novva announced its launch in 2020, the company said it was

"... focused on (creating) new, purpose-designed, and built data centers (to) provide wholesale and multi-tenant colocation infrastructure services to local, national, and international clients."

Since its launch, the Swenson-led Novva has raised ~$450 million in external funding, most of it with CIM Group, "... a community-focused real estate and infrastructure owner, operator, lender and developer" with $28.6 billion in Assets Under Management (AUM).

Additionally, Novva now has financial commitments of over $5.1 billion with its completed (or under development) hyperscale, data center campuses.

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