The world's largest data center market is continuing to grow, with construction starting on a new project in Loudoun County.

Aligned announced Tuesday it broke ground on a new 513K SF data center that will add 120 megawatts of capacity to its hyperscale campus in Ashburn.

The groundbreaking comes after Aligned last year completed the first building on the campus, a 370K SF data center with 60 MW of capacity. The latest project is expected to deliver its first phase with 40 MW of capacity by the end of the year. Aligned declined to give the estimated cost of construction.

Northern Virginia remains the largest data center hub in the world with 13.7M SF of facilities as of year-end, plus another 650K SF under construction and 3.7M SF planned, according to Cushman & Wakefield's 2019 data center report. The market led the nation in demand last year with 124 MW of absorption, more than double the next highest market, Northern California.

Aligned is also invested in emerging data center markets like Phoenix and Salt Lake City, and experts predict the industry will spread out beyond the traditionally dominant markets in the coming years.