Microsoft has revealed plans to invest $348m to expand its modular data centre site in Mecklenburg County Virginia, US.

The company will construct two additional facilities on its data centre campus to increase capacity to serve its customer base.

The latest investment adds to the $499m Microsoft invested in 2010 to construct the initial data centre at the site and in 2011 the company invested an additional $150m to expand the site.

The Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission will provide $2m for the project and Governor Bob McDonnell’s Opportunity Fund will provide a $200,000 grant to assist the county with the project.

Microsoft Data Center Services general manager, Christian Belady, said the expansion will increase the facility’s computing capacity, software capabilities and server utilization

"This expansion will allow us to meet the growing demand from consumers and businesses for our cloud services in the region in an increasingly efficient manner," Belady said.

Last year, Microsoft awarded a contract to FuelCell Energy to construct a new experimental biogas-powered data centre in Wyoming, US in March 2013.