Spotlight: The biggest datacenters under development in LatAm

Total datacenter inventory in Latin America reached 757MW in operational critical capacity last year, an increase of 16%, according to a report by real estate consultancy CBRE.

Although rising, this load still represents only a fraction of global datacenter capacity.

However, there are many new projects underway in the region that are expected to push installed power capacity across the 1GW threshold.

Just in Brazil, over 900MW in capacity is estimated between projects under construction and those being planned, according to an assessment by property and investment management company JLL.

BNamericas provides an overview of some of the largest datacenters being developed in the region.

MEXICO

CloudHQ is developing the 70b-peso (US$3.9bn) Querétaro QRO campus, in Colón. With 288MW in projected capacity, it is the largest such complex underway in Mexico and due for 2026.

The Colón complex is designed to have six datacenter buildings, each with power capacity of up to 48MW in IT load.  

Also in Querétaro state, in El Marqués, 221km from Mexico City, Odata's QR03 is set to become the largest datacenter in the country with 150MW total capacity. The initial phase is due for the first quarter next year.

Layer 9 Data Centers is working on a 96MW datacenter campus, dubbed Project Falcon, in the Bajío region of central Mexico, which encompasses Guanajuato and Querétaro states.

The campus comprises three buildings, each with 32MW in capacity. 

In October 2022, Layer 9 announced that it had broken ground on the first phase, but the project has been delayed.

BRAZIL

Equinix claims that its third Rio de Janeiro datacenter, RJ3, represents the largest sector investment in the state.

With an initial budget of US$94mn and located in São João de Meriti municipality, RJ3 was expected to start operations in the first quarter of 2025 but is now scheduled to go live some time in the first half.

RJ3 will have 560 racks and 1,467m2 of colocation space in its first phase. Equinix does not disclose the projected capacity of the facility.

Despite Equinix’s claim about the largest investment, CloudHQ is developing the 1.7bn-real (US$302mn) GIG campus with 36MW in projected capacity, also in São João do Meriti and planned to go live in September 2025.

In São Paulo, Scala Data Centers is planning a 100MW datacenter cluster at its Tamboré complex in Barueri municipality for 2025.

Scala plans to implement 180MW in projects in production (pre-building) and under construction this year. The company, controlled by DigitalBridge, closed 60MW in new bookings last year, ending 2023 with 160MW in total contracted capacity.

Also in São Paulo state, CloudHQ is developing a campus (GRU) in Paulínia municipality with 288MW in projected IT capacity. The project has the same size, configuration and six-building concept as the group’s Querétaro campus. Both campuses are being developed practically in parallel.

The Paulínia facility is planned to start operations next February.

CHILE

Scala’s 80MW IT capacity Lampa campus, under development in the metropolitan region of Santiago, is the largest such project in Chile.

The campus will house separate buildings with 30MW set for initial delivery in 2024.

Covering 34,000m2 and with over 40MW of projected capacity at the end of all phases of expansion, Odata’s single-tenant ST02 datacenter, in the metropolitan region’s San Bernardo district, however, appears as the country’s biggest data building. 

Having started operations, 10.6MW are committed to one hyperscale customer.

“This is one of the biggest buildings we’ve ever built. Obviously, it's phased, like any other project of this type. 40.6MW in a single building represents one of the largest projects of its kind in Chile and certainly in Latin America,” Odata CEO Ricardo Alário told BNamericas last year.

Cirion is developing the SAN2 unit with 20MW in projected capacity. 

SAN2 is expected to start operating in early 2025. It is being developed on a 23,000m2 site in the Quilicura industrial district of Santiago, 2.5km from Cirion’s existing site and with a direct connection to it.

PERU

Cirion is also developing a 20MW datacenter in the Macropolis industrial district in Lurín, Lima province. This is one of the largest such projects in Peru.

The company expects the first phase, aimed at hyperscalers and enterprises, to start operation in the first quarter of 2025. The unit is being built in a 12,000m2 area. 

Also in Lurín, Chilean group GTD is nearly done with the construction of a 6,000m2, 20MW datacenter. The project was expected to be activated next month, according to the company. The US$50mn facility is the company's second datacenter in Peru.

Lurín is a strategic location, as it hosts the country's main submarine cable landing station, used by the South-American Crossing, Fibra Óptica al Pacífico, South-American 1 and the South Pacific Cable System, also known as Mistral.

COLOMBIA

Ascenty is developing an 18,500m2 campus in Bogotá, with 2,600 racks and 20MW in projected capacity housed in two buildings.

Odata’s second datacenter in Colombia, BG02, remains under development with construction yet to start.