LZA delivers 250MW substation to CloudHQ's Brazil datacenter

Brazilian engineering firm LZA Engenharia delivered a 250MW high-voltage substation to supply CloudHQ's datacenter project in Paulínia, São Paulo state.

The substation is connected with the power grid operated by distributor ISA CTEEP, Gustavo Pazelli, LZA's director of projects and works, told BNamericas.

LZA was responsible for the entire project, including structural development, request for proposals to suppliers and securing approval from the mines and energy ministry (MME).

The contract with CloudHQ comprises three buildings of 55,000m2.

Being directly connected to the national grid is seen by CloudHQ as a competitive advantage, Gabriel Navarro Alday, the firm’s business development and leasing manager, told BNamericas last year.

“The approval of connecting the campus directly to the national energy grid represents much more stable and lower cost energy, which directly benefits our customers,” he said.

In addition to the Paulínia campus, LZA is developing a smaller substation for a CloudHQ datacenter project in Rio de Janeiro state, where it will be connected to Light's transmission and distribution network.

LZA also has three grid projects involving substations for other companies, all awaiting the green light from MME, said Pazelli, adding that the approval period usually takes around 60 days.

In addition to CloudHQ, LZA has developed power projects for datacenters owned by V.tal, Scala, Odata, Equinix, IBM, Bradesco, Nabiax and Compass UOL, among others.

CAMPUS

In February last year, CloudHQ announced investments of up to US$3bn to build the 288MW datacenter campus in Paulínia, marking the group’s entry into Latin America.

The construction works are carried out by Afonso França Engenharia with the project’s first phase due for completion in 1H24.

A source from one of the company's contractors told BNamericas that the project is advancing according to schedule.

Announced later, the datacenter under development in Rio de Janeiro is being erected on land bought by the company in São João de Meriti municipality.

This 1.7bn-real (US$330mn) campus will comprise 4.5ha of land with 36MW capacity. The expectation is that the site will start operating in September 2025.

In Mexico, CloudHQ is working on the development of a Querétaro campus with the same capacity and size as the one in Paulínia.