US operator Vantage Data Centers is entering the Spanish market.

The company has announced plans to invest €3.2 billion ($3.78bn) in developing a data center campus in Villanueva de Gállego, the Zaragoza area of Aragon.

The project will be developed in collaboration with the Aragonese company Desarrollos Ecoindustriales La Cartuja. It will be carried out in five phases over ten years, according to the Government of Aragon.

The data center will occupy 40 hectares of undeveloped industrial land parallel to the Huesca highway, next to the San Jorge University campus and opposite the San Miguel industrial estate.

“To accompany this project, last Wednesday the Governing Council approved the DIGA [declaration of regional interest with general interest] of this initiative, which already has 90MW of electricity supply granted through Endesa,” said the president of the Government of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, during the announcement of the investment last Friday.

The project is expected to generate hundreds of direct jobs once it reaches full capacity. Permanent jobs will increase from 180 direct jobs in the first three years to 520 permanent direct jobs by the end of the final year of development.

Efficient energy supply

The campus will be in an eco-industrial park promoted by Vantage Data Centers, which plans to integrate local renewable energy generation facilities (wind and photovoltaic) and energy storage systems aligned with climate neutrality goals.

The campus is also planned to use a closed-loop cooling system to ensure that its operation does not place additional demand on water resources.

“With this major investment of €3.2 billion ($3.78bn), Aragon reaches €57.9bn ($65.5bn) in investments since the beginning of the legislature. It is important to remember that these business investments go far beyond astronomical figures. They have an impact on GDP, thousands of jobs, and a fiscal footprint that will strengthen Aragon’s public services,” added the president.

Aragon is becoming an international investment hub for data centers. In August, the regional government approved the expansion of Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers in Huesca and Zaragoza, and Blackstone requested an extension of the original plans for the creation of a data center campus in Zaragoza from the Government of Aragon.

This piece was automatically translated from DCD’s Spanish site and edited by a member of DCD’s editorial staff.