Iberdrola, a Spanish multinational electric utility company, and Echelon Data Centers, an Ireland-based technology company, have formed a joint venture to develop data centers, the companies announced on Monday.
This is the largest binding agreement of its kind between an energy provider and a data infrastructure developer, according to the announcement.
Iberdrola will hold a 20% stake through its subsidiary CPD4Green, while the remaining 80% will be owned by Echelon, under the Starwood Capital Group.
Echelon will oversee development, design, commercialization, and day-to-day management of the new venture.
The first project under this partnership will be "Madrid Sur," a 160,000 square-meter data center complex designed to provide 144 megawatts (MW) of processing capacity.
The facility, which has secured a 230 MW connection to the power grid, is expected to become operational before 2030 and create approximately 1,500 jobs.
Its projected annual electricity consumption of 1 terawatt-hour (TWh) will be met by an on-site solar photovoltaic plant, supplemented with additional renewable energy supplied by Iberdrola.
David Mesonero Molina, Iberdrola's director of corporate development, states that the agreement strengthens Iberdrola's strategy to facilitate the development of data centers.
Speaking about the alliance, Molina said: "It will allow us to leverage our portfolio of sites with grid connection and our capacity to provide these infrastructures with secure, clean and competitive energy 24 hours a day, 365 days a year."
"Entering the Spanish data center market has been a strategic goal for Echelon for several years. Spain offers significant advantages to our clients: access to large-scale renewable energy with some of the lowest prices in Europe and excellent construction and operational capabilities," said David Smith, chief investment officer at Echelon Data Centers.
By Duygu Alhan
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr