Scala Data Centers Celebrates R$ 1 Billion Investment in Northeast Brazil

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Jun 26, 2024, 13:19 ET

With construction progressing at an accelerated pace, the new data center campus in Fortaleza, marks a milestone in regional digital infrastructure

FORTALEZA, Brazil, June 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Scala Data Centers, the leading Latin American platform of sustainable data centers in the Hyperscale market, celebrates the progress of its first data center in Northeast Brazil, SFORPF01. The groundbreaking event occurred this Tuesday (25) and was attended by the Mayor of Fortaleza, José Sarto, and Scala's CEO and co-founder, Marcos Peigo.

Mayor of Fortaleza, José Sarto, and Scala's CEO and co-founder, Marcos Peigo, symbolically start the construction of SFORPF01.

Rendered representation of the Praia do Futuro Campus after construction completion.

The data center, part of the HyperEdge family designed by Scala to address the demands for connection and distributed computing close to the end user, has a configuration specifically developed to fulfill the high demand from large content providers and cloud services, known as Hyperscalers. With 7.2 MW of IT capacity, the SFORPF01 was planned and is being built using all of Scala's experience in constructing buildings dedicated exclusively to Hyperscale clients. As the first site of this kind in the region, this initiative reinforces the company's commitment to enabling new markets in Latin America. The project is expected to be fully completed by 2028.

The site is part of the Praia do Futuro Campus, with a total investment of R$ 1 billion (US$ 183 million). Covering 24,000 square meters (258,300 square feet), it will include a second HyperCore building, making it the largest project in the region. This building will add 13.5 MW of IT capacity to SFORPF01's 7.2 MW, totaling 20.7 MW. The campus, featuring a dedicated power substation, has two anchor clients and potential for expansion. Approximately 700 direct and indirect jobs will be created during construction, with 60 more direct positions during operation.

"We are committed to strengthening Fortaleza's economy, making the city increasingly attractive to businesses and innovative companies. Scala Data Centers' investment is a valuable addition to our technological infrastructure, boosting Fortaleza in a critical sector. This project will not only generate jobs and income but also inspire other companies to invest here, solidifying our city as a hub of innovation. Our commitment is to make Fortaleza an example of development and innovation for Brazil and the world," states José Sarto, Mayor of Fortaleza.

Fortaleza, the Brazilian state capital closest to Europe, is a key connectivity hub, hosting ten of the country's sixteen submarine cables. Scala aims to establish an IT infrastructure in the region to support the Hyperscale market and facilitate the growth of companies already present or planning to invest locally.

"Fortaleza offers us a unique opportunity with its advanced connectivity and strategic position. Our initiative not only fills the gap in high-demand and quality infrastructure but will also become a pillar for data processing close to end-users, essential for applications such as artificial intelligence and telemedicine. This project will be a milestone, promoting a digital revolution and benefiting the entire Northeast region," says Marcos Peigo, CEO and co-founder of Scala.

The construction of SFORPF01 uses the proprietary FastDeploy design and construction methodology, which allows the implementation of data centers in up to 50% less time compared to the traditional model. This solution is based on prefabricated, transportable modular components that are integrated into the buildings where the data center is located, offering an optimized experience for its Hyperscale clients.

Following the standard set by the company, a pioneer in adopting sustainable practices in the construction and operation of its data centers, the campus will feature 100% renewable and certified energy, along with a high energy efficiency index. The campus will be designed to operate with a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) below 1.5 and will have zero water consumption.

In addition to this unit in Fortaleza, Scala Data Centers continues its expansion plan in Latin America with other sites under construction in Brazil, Colombia, and Chile. Recently, new sites were inaugurated, completing 12 buildings in operation. Since its founding in 2020, Scala has invested over R$ 8 billion in its projects and aims to reach 500MW of distributed capacity in the next five years.

About Scala Data Centers

Scala Data Centers is the leading sustainable data center platform in the Hyperscale market. Based in Brazil and backed by DigitalBridge, it was developed to meet and exceed the growing demand for digital access in Latin America. Scala has a highly qualified team of over 1,000 professionals and applies a flexible and innovative approach to delivering exceptional colocation services for customers, cloud software, service providers, and large companies. We customize state-of-the-art solutions for each client with high availability, high rate of energy efficiency, and very high density capable of supporting the AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning) workloads. All this is combined with best sustainability practices guided by our ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) program.

For more information, visit https://scaladatacenters.com/en/.

SOURCE Scala Data Centers