US data storage company Seagate Technology has submitted a planning application to expand its cleanroom facility in Derry, Northern Ireland, as part of a £115m (€133.5m) investment in the North West region. Cleanroom Technology reported on the development, confirmed on 26 March 2026.

The application, submitted on 13 March to Derry City and Strabane District Council, proposes to partially demolish the existing single-storey cleanroom and replace it with a new three-storey extended facility. ABN Cleanroom Technology has been selected to deliver the new ISO Class 6 cleanroom.

The expansion is funded by Seagate's £100m (€116.1m) investment in the North West over the next five years, supported by £15m (€17.4m) from Invest Northern Ireland.

The current facility is used to develop and manufacture hard disk drives capable of storing 60 terabytes of data, surpassing today's top capacity of 36TB. The Derry site is one of only five facilities worldwide that develop and manufacture the nano-photonic components of hard drives.

John Morris, CTO of Seagate Technology, said: "To unlock data's full potential, we need storage solutions that are not only massive in capacity but engineered for reliability, durability, and scale. That's exactly what this investment enables."

The new facility will integrate ABN's patented VIX concept to maximise airflow efficiency and will be delivered using the modular ADAPTUS product platform, enabling construction within four months.

The expansion is expected to create around 80 highly skilled roles in engineering, manufacturing, and research, and generate wider benefits for local supply chains and specialist equipment providers. Since establishing operations in Derry in the early 1990s, Seagate has grown into one of the city's largest employers.

View the full details of Seagate's Derry cleanroom expansion plans here.