Chile launches datacenter association

Following in the footsteps of Brazil and Mexico, Chile launched its own association of private datacenter companies, dubbed Chile Data Centers.

The formal launch was on Wednesday in capital Santiago. 

Ascenty, EdgeConneX, Equinix, NextStream, Odata, Scala Data Centers and the outlet Datacenter Dynamics are founding members.

Chile Data Centers will have among other tasks “the role of representing the sector, being a unique voice in defense and promotion of the segment, driving innovation, talent and the promotion of sustainable practices, as well as generating alliances and collaborative projects,” said the entity.

The association will be led by Francisco Basoalto (Equinix) as president, with Gonzalo Atán (NextStream) as VP and Ignacio Larrain (Odata) as director and general secretary.

The board of directors also includes Pablo Bonino (Ascenty) and Diego Duro (Scala), José Friebel (DCD) as advisor and Catalina Achermann (Universidad de Chile, former WOM VP) as general manager.

MARKET

Chile is the third main datacenter market in Latin America and second in South America, with around 150MW in colocation capacity and 237MW in colocation supply mostly concentrated in Santiago’s metropolitan region.

A further 258MW in capacity is estimated as being under construction or in the planning phase, according to projections from JLL.

Santiago’s Quilicura district is currently the main focus of datacenter developments, followed by nearby Colina and Pudahuel.

Scala leads the Chilean market in datacenter capacity inventory, followed by Odata.

The connection to international submarine cables, the macroeconomic and business environment and a clean energy matrix, among others, are factors that attract datacenter investments in Chile.

Solar energy, for example, represents roughly 35% of the total generation from clean sources in the country.

In a bid to further boost the sector and ramp up investments, the Chilean government is holding a consultation on a national datacenter plan, with which it expects to attract US$2.5bn in investments and 30 new datacenters by 2028.