Marked by a ground breaking ceremony, attendees included Geraldo Alckmin, vice-president of Brazil and Minister of Development; Tarcísio de Freitas, Governor of the state of São Paulo.
Other attendees included Ednilson Cazellato, Mayor of Paulínia; Gustavo Reis, Mayor of Jaguariúna and President of the Municipalities of the Metropolitan Region of Campinas; Rui Gomes Junior, President of InvestSP; Adriana Flosi, from the Development Secretary of Campinas representing the Mayor Dario Saadi and Guilherme França, partner-director of Afonso França Engenharia.
The ceremony was hosted by Hossein Fateh, founder and CEO of CloudHQ, and Jose Fraga - Executive Vice President for Latin America.
The Governor, Freitas, emphasized that an investment of this magnitude will bring many jobs and income to Paulínia and to the state, saying: "parents will be able to provide better for their families as a result of the many jobs to be created. This will open many opportunities including training young professionals so they can access these high skilled-jobs.”
Once completed, the new facility, the GRU Technology Campus of CloudHQ, is set to become the largest data centre in the Southern Hemisphere.
According to Fateh, the new campus will offer up to 288MW of IT load capacity provided by its own substation, connected to the national power grid at high voltage.
The first phase of the project will comprise of three buildings, each with 48MW, while the second phase will add another three buildings of the same capacity. The campus also features its own underground fibre route that connects the facility to major Internet exchange points in the region.
Construction is underway, and completion is expected in the first half of 2024.
Alckmin, stated that the data centre will attract new investments and new industries to the region and postion Paulínia as a technological hub. He celebrated the job openings created with the construction of the campus, saying: "In civil construction alone, almost a thousand jobs will be generated."
As part of its expansion plans for Brazil, CloudHQ has a second data centre under development in Rio de Janeiro, on its own land strategically located in São João de Meriti. Energy approvals has been secured along with construction licenses.
