Start Campus Drives Momentum in Portugal

Start Campus, an innovator in site selection, design, and building 100% green energy ecosystems, recaps a successful year at the SINES Project, the company’s 495 MW hyperscale data center campus, currently under construction with an RFS date set for Q3 of 2023. In December 2022, Start Campus reported the company’s steel work was being finalized at the SINES Project site, located on the coast Portugal - about 150 km from Lisbon. Once completed, the campus will be one of the largest hyperscale data center ecosystems powered by 100% green energy. The location positions Portugal as a connectivity hub providing access via Transatlantic cable landings and terrestrial connectivity bridging the locale with key hubs in Europe, Africa and the Americas.

SINES project was announced in April of 2021, with the beginning of construction announced a year later in April 2022. At that time, Start Campus revealed an ultimate investment of 3.5 billion euros. The first phase development consists of a total of 5,000 square meters (53,800 sq ft) and offers 15 MW of capacity across six data halls. With an RFS date of Q3 of 2023, pre-sales for this space are currently available with multiple operators in active discussions.

“We’re proud of the continuous momentum from the Start Campus team and the overwhelming support we received this year from the industry and local community,” says Afonso Salema, CEO of Start Campus. “We are setting new heights by showing that unprecedented scale and highly sustainable ecosystems can work more harmoniously. The SINES Project has a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.1 and Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) of zero, using zero-consumption ocean water cooling solutions.”

In October 2022, Start Campus announced that it joined the iMasons Climate Accord (ICA), signing an industry-wide pledge to battle climate change by reducing data center carbon output, with the goal to have carbon-free operations by 2025 and fully carbon-free by 2028. Start Campus’ goal of become carbon-free is being achieved through the repurposing of existing energy grid facilities, the use of ocean water for a state-of-the-art cooling solution that avoids the use of potable water, and the use of solar parks with batteries for energy storage, along with green Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) to optimize costs. The facilities at the SINES Project create their own energy, protect the environment, and are not a strain on the local community’s energy grid.

Propelling the company’s mission throughout the local community, In the Fall of 2022, Start Campus launched the GAMMA Community Platform, an annual initiative that supports community projects in Sines and Santiago do Cacém, Portugal. As a result of this community empowerment effort, Start Campus is promoting sustainable economic growth to enable a circular economy through the introduction of the digital infrastructure industry, resulting in bringing employment opportunities and community initiatives to the local market.

Start Campus is bringing scale to sustainability in order to meet the growing regulatory and capital market requirements for the global digital economy. The company delivers proof-of-concept confidence for the Green Giant hub-and-spoke data ecosystem architecture of the future. With the company’s competitive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), it allows ample margin to get ahead of green and carbon reduction requirements for data center operators, developers and mass-scale digital infrastructure companies.