Echelon agrees €2bn data centre investment in Spain with Iberdrola

Echelon Data Centres has agreed a €2bn investment to construct data centres in Spain as part of a strategic alliance with power producer and utility giant Iberdrola.

Echelon Data Centres has agreed a €2bn investment to construct data centres in Spain as part of a strategic alliance with power producer and utility giant Iberdrola.

The pair will build and operate data centre infrastructure projects in Spain with the first project, located around Madrid, providing up to 150 MW of capacity and operational by 2030.

Echelon will be responsible for design, commercialisation, and management of the joint venture while Iberdrola will source and secure suitable land plots with robust grid connectivity for data centre development. Echelon will own 80% of the joint venture, with Iberdrola owning the remaining 20% through its digital infrastructure subsidiary CPD4Green.

“Entering the Spanish data centre market has been a strategic goal for Echelon for several years," said Echelon chief investment officer David Smith. "Spain has material benefits as a market for our customers; a supportive regulatory and policy environment, high quality talent from both a construction and operational perspective and access to some of Europe’s lowest price renewable energy, in scale."

Echelon Data Centres has more than 600 MW of capacity either operational or in planning in Ireland and the UK.

In May, Echelon launched two new projects in Wicklow to construct data centres as part of a €3.5bn investment at the site of the former Irish Fertilisers Industries plant at the Avoca River Business Park in Arklow and at Kish Business Park. The projects will create 2,600 jobs during construction and more than 700 jobs once both are operational.  

Echelon’s major shareholder is investment firm Starwood Capital Group, which has $115bn (€98bn) in assets under management in North America, Europe, and Asia.