Brazilian data center operator Scala has broken ground on a new facility in Fortaleza.
Mayor José Sarto was due to attend the cornerstone laying ceremony for the new facility, known as SFORPF01, this week. Update: The company has confirmed the groundbreaking ceremony occured.
The campus, located at Av. Aldy Mentor, 371 - Manoel Dias Branco in the state of Ceará, is due to offer 7.2MW in the first phase.
Using Scala's FastDeploy design, the first building on the site will total 9,700 sqm (104,410 sq ft), and the second 10,000 sqm (107,640 sq ft) and 13.5MW. The campus will also feature an on-site substation. The project is expected to be fully completed by 2028.
"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," saidMarcos Peigo, CEO and co-founder of Scala.
Founded in 2020 after DigitalBridge acquired facilities from Brazilian IT firm UOL Diveo, Scala has invested around $1.6bn in hyperscale data centers across Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Colombia. The company expects its data center portfolio to reach 500MW over the next five years.
2023 saw Scala launch data centers in Curauma, Chile, as well as São Paulo, Porto Alegre, and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The company said it has construction projects underway in Tamboré Campus (São Paulo, Brazil), Porto Alegre city (Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil), and Lampa (Chile), as well as advanced projects to implement other data centers in Mexico and Colombia.
Other operators present in Fortaleza include Angola Cables and V.tal.
A version of this story appeared on our Brazilian edition.
