Merlin Properties has opened the first building of its project Bilbao-Aras data centerur in the logistics and industrial park of the Alava municipality of Ribabellosa, and with it the first phase of the three projected ends. The REIT inaugurates the first data center building that will be “the largest in Spain.”
The Bilbao-Arasur Data Center complex has inaugurated its first building in Ribabellosa (Álava), which marks the completion of the first phase of a project that will culminate with the entry operation of the largest data center of these characteristics in the Spanish State.
This space, promoted by the company Merlin Properties, responds to the objective of responding to the growing need for next-generation digital infrastructurewhich is growing exponentially due to the advancement of technologies such as generative artificial intelligence, as reported by the company promoting the project in a statement.
The data center will be developed in three phases: the first, completed with the building that has been inaugurated; the second, which contemplates two additional buildings and whose works will begin in the coming months; and a third phase that will add three other assets to the campus. With its six buildings, this space will have a potential capacity of 300 MW IT.
The first building has the latest generation technology in the sector, runs on 100% renewable energy and does not incur water consumption for cooling, characteristics that will be shared by the rest of the buildings that will make up the complex.
The lehendakariImanol Pradales, has inaugurated the first building of the Bilbao-Arasur Data Center Campus that Merlin Properties is developing in the Arasur industrial and logistics park, in Ribabellosa (Álava).
Pradales has considered that the center is “an important step in the process of technological and digital transformation and in the promotion of new infrastructures for the data economyalso putting sustainability at the center. We know that the new economy is already digital. This implies the creation of digital infrastructures, more connectivity, new high-value technological services, and the creation of an entire ecosystem that is being formed around them. “In Euskadi we have sufficient capabilities to take advantage of the opportunities offered by this new data economy.”
He has cited as examples “our geostrategic location on the Atlantic Axis, as arrival point of large transoceanic digital cables between the United States and Europewhich provides us with very low latency for digital communications. We have the strength of an industrial fabric and advanced services, which add up to 40% of our GDP. We have been promoting new projects linked to Artificial Intelligence, cybersecurity, industry 5.0 or quantum technologies. But being necessary conditions they are not sufficient. “We must also accelerate the digital transition and transformation of our economic fabric, especially among our SMEs.”
The Lehendakari continued that “as Mario Draghi highlights in his report, investment in digital infrastructure is crucial to ensuring Europe remains competitive against the United States and China. These infrastructures are essential to offer cutting-edge services to our companies and industry. To store, process and manage digital information”, explained
The opening ceremony was also attended by the executive director of Merlin Properties, Ismael Clemente; the deputy general of Álava, Ramiro González; and the mayor of Ribera Baja, Amado Martínez de Iturrate, among other institutional representatives.
The largest projected
This first building marks the completion of the first phase of development of the Bilbao-Arasur Data Center Campus which, once fully developed, will have a potential capacity of 300 MW IT, positioning itself as “the largest campus in Spain, one of the largest in Europe, and the largest projected so far” by Merlin Properties, as reported by the company in a statement.
Clemente has stated that this complex is “a sample of the leading role that the Basque Country is going to play in this sector, for its strategic location in terms of underwater interconnections and for being the first region to have a data center designed for next-generation artificial intelligencepowered by renewable energy and among the most sustainable and efficient internationally.”
The complex benefits from the proximity to “key” submarine cables, such as Marea (Virginia Beach-Sopelana), Grace Hopper (New York-Sopelana) and soon Anjana (Myrtle Beach-Somo), which consolidate the Iberian Peninsula as a “data gateway” from the United States to Europe, Africa and the Middle East .
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