Data center firm Edged Energy and real estate firm Merlin Properties are planning two gigawatt-scale data center campuses in Spain.

The companies this week announced a public-private project with the regional government of Extremadura to develop facilities located in Navalmoral de la Mata in Cáceres Province and Valdecaballeros in Badajoz Province, each site offering up to 1GW.

The sites will use waterless cooling technology, offering densities up to 200kW per rack at a target PUE of 1.1.5.

Further details, including timelines for development, were not shared.

In its own announcement, the Junta de Extremadura said Merlin and Edge had reserved land in the Expacio Navalmoral business park outside Navalmoral de la Mata.

“Our mission is to create data centers for positive impact, and we are proud to contribute to the Iberian Peninsula’s growing digital economy,” said Jakob Carnemark, CEO of Edged Energy. “The region offers unprecedented fiber connectivity with massive submarine connections worldwide and boasts reliable, abundant, and low-cost renewable energy. Our commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency aligns perfectly with Extremadura’s commitment to use innovation and technology to combat climate change and help safeguard the area’s natural resources.”

Merlin, a major real estate firm, first announced plans to move into the data center space in 2021 in partnership with Edged, the then-new data center venture from Aligned founder Jakob Carnemark. Merlin has since raised more than $1 billion for further data center development.

The companies are developing data centers across Spain and Portugal in Bilbao Arasur (x2), Madrid-Getafe, Barcelona, and Lisbon that could total around 60MW at the end of the first phase and eventually total more than 200MW. Meta is reportedly the main customer for the first three live Merlin data centers in Spain.

Extremadura is the western Spanish region bordering Portugal. It is the region west of Madrid and north of Sevilla/Seville.

The President of the Regional Government of Extremadura, María Guardiola, said: "With this agreement, we can take advantage of Extremadura's competitive advantages in terms of energy. The two planned data center campuses are a reflection of a new era in which we are showing the world that rural areas are at the forefront."

Edged also has multiple data center developments across the US.