Source : BUSINESS NEWS
Modular data centre specialist DXN limited, which manufactures in Welshpool, has inked an $8.8 million deal with a US neo cloud operator which could lead to over $US200 million in orders.
The binding contract is for the design, engineering, manufacture and commission of a 1.36 megawatt high performance computing modular data centre; and is structured as a pilot proof-of-concept which DXN said could lead to over $US200 million in orders.
DXN managing director Shalini Lagrutta said the contract was a milestone for the New South Wales headquartered company, which already operates two small data centres in Darwin and South Australia, and manufactures its modular offerings in Perth’s Welshpool.
“Securing a publicly listed, US-based neo cloud operator further validates DXN‘s strategic direction and execution over the last three years: productising our modular data centre capability specifically for the high-density AI inference market,” she said.
“The selection of DXN by a leading US-listed neo cloud operator ahead of a large-scale campus programme reflects our differentiation in speed-to-deployment, modular scalability and direct liquid cooling expertise. We look forward to delivering this proof-of-concept and growing what we can expect to be a significant long-term commercial partnership.”
The modular centres will incorporate direct-to-chip liquid cooling on GPU rack densities of up to 150kW per rack.
DXN said manufacturing would commence at its Welspool site immediately, with the modular solution to be commissioned at the customer’s US site within six months.
Neo cloud operators specialise in cloud services purpose-built for AI. Unlike hyperscalers, they often focus on delivering ultra-powerful graphics processing unit compute as a serivce for machine learning and AI workloads.
It’s unclear who the neo cloud provider in the deal is, although some major industry players include CoreWeave, Nebius, Lambda, Crusoe and Vultr.
It’s another win for the company in an already promising year, after the company inked a joint venture with Super Sistems Indoensia to capitalise on the country’s booming data centre requirements.
The JV brought together DXN‘s prefabricated modular data centre specialities with SSI’s subsea fibre optic cable systems expertise to create a local holding company in Indonesia; allowing DXN to skirt the nation’s import tariffs of between 20 and 40 per cent placed on data centres.
The move will mean all future SSI orders are fulfilled through the JV entity and built at a jointly owned and operated factory in Jakarta; moving some manufacturing operations away from its Welshpool home.
That deal came after Indonesia introduced new data sovereignty regulations, requiring certain types of data—particularly public, financial and strategic sector data—to be stored and processed domestically.
Those changes, combined with Indonesia’s 285 million-and-growing population has led to an estimated data centre capacity demand by 2028 of 1800 megawatts; almost doubling the country’s current 970MW capacity.
DXN operates three core divisions across modular data centres, data centre, and cable landing station manufacturing and operations.
Founded in Welshpool in 2018, the company operates data centres in Tasmania and the Northern Territory, as well as around 30 modular centres globally; including for companies like Pilbara Minerals, Newcrest Mining and Boeing.
