Salesforce has announced plans to expand its UK datacentre footprint without increasing its carbon footprint, claiming its second UK facility will run on 100% renewable energy. 

The new datacentre will open for business in 2019, Andrew Lawson, Salesforce’s executive vice president and UK general manager, confirmed this week.

“I’m proud to announce our expansion in our datacentre capacity. We’re in the process of commissioning and finalising our second UK datacentre and that will make a big difference moving forward,” he said. 

“The opening of our first European Innovation Centre at Salesforce Tower London [this week] and our increased datacentre capacity in the UK underscores both our partnership with UK businesses and our growth in this market,” Lawson added.

“These facilities will help our trailblazing customers and partners to drive innovation and connect with their customers in a whole new way.”

Sustainability remains a key focus for the cloud CRM giant, with it achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in 2017 as well as starting to offer a carbon-neutral cloud for its customers.

The new datacentre will play a big role in supporting Salesforce’s growing UK business, both on the customer and partner side, according to Simon Mulcahy, Salesforce’s global CMO.

“International is our most important growth environment. Within that it’s EMEA and within that, the UK is prime. The growth here is amazing and we have incredible strategic partners such as Ulster Bank and RBS,” he said during a press Q&A at the company’s World Tour London conference.

Such is the momentum in the UK, it’s actually the second biggest Salesforce conference worldwide, with the biggest being the annual Dreamforce event in San Francisco, Mulcahy added.