Scala Data Centers launches new $65M facility in Curauma, Chile

Scala Data Centers, a hyperscale data center provider located in Latin America, has begun operations of its SSCLCR01 data center in Curauma, Valparaíso region, Chile. The new $65 million data center includes 5MW of IT capacity and has already booked one hyperscale customer.

Situated in its Curauma Campus, Scala Data Centers said the new data center is poised for exponential growth because it is designed to reach a critical capacity of approximately 30MW in the coming years.

Built in 10 months, Scala said its network data center is part of its strategy to enable new Hyperscale markets across Latin America. Location is also crucial. Besides offering a large amount of land, energy, connectivity, and proximity to consolidated markets – the data center is based 56 miles from the Santiago metropolitan area – Curauma will establish itself on the world's connectivity map with the arrival of the Humboldt submarine cable, which promises to connect Latin America to the Asia-Pacific regions for the first time. The data center will also have a connection to the U.S. West Coast.

"In a scenario where 5G accelerates the deployment of various services and applications that use high data volume and require low latency, Scala has chosen its first campus to become operational in Chile," said Scala's CEO and Co-Founder Marcos Peigo. "Furthermore, aligned with our purpose of enabling the future in Latin America, we have created a unique opportunity here for customers positioned on the West Coast of the USA and for a potential group in APAC (Asia-Pacific and China) to offer their products and solutions to Latin American customers."

Leveraging renewable and certified energy, in line with the company's portfolio, the new Chilean data center was built based on the proprietary One Scala Template design and construction methodology. The SSCLCR01 data center was designed to operate with a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) lower than 1.2-1.3 and a WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness) of zero as it uses air cooling.

The SSCLCR01 data center project was led by the company's Center of Excellence in Engineering (CoE), which has more than 340 engineers, architects, and data center specialists across Latin America. CoE oversees the planning and execution of all activities related to the construction and operation of a data center, from site selection, through planning, design, construction, and commissioning, which speeds up delivery to customers and brings gains in scale, energy efficiency, and greater control and visibility of projects.

All SSCLCR01 data center monitoring will be conducted by Scala's Command Center, located at its operations headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil, where a trilingual team extensively uses technology, artificial intelligence, and rigorous quality processes to monitor and ensure security in line with Scala's other sites in operation.

Focus on efficiency

Powered by renewable and certified energy, in line with the company's portfolio, the new Chilean data center was built based on the proprietary One Scala Template design and construction methodology. With high efficiency in using its resources, the SSCLCR01 data center was designed to operate with a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) lower than 1.2-1.3 and with a WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness) of zero as it uses air cooling.

The SSCLCR01 data center project was led by the company's Center of Excellence in Engineering (CoE), which has more than 340 engineers, architects, and data center specialists across Latin America. CoE oversees the planning and execution of all activities related to the construction and operation of a data center, from site selection, through planning, design, construction, and commissioning, which speeds up delivery to customers and brings gains in scale, energy efficiency, and greater control and visibility of projects.

All SSCLCR01 data center monitoring will be conducted by the company's Command Center, located at its operations headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil, where a trilingual team extensively uses technology, artificial intelligence, and rigorous quality processes to monitor and ensure security, in line with Scala's other sites in operation.

Eying Chile growth

Along with the Curauma Campus, Scala continues to build Lampa Campus in the Santiago metropolitan region. Scala said this will be the largest data center campus ever built in Chile with an IT capacity of 80MW – considering 30MW for initial delivery in 2024.

Also, Scala plans to construct a HyperEdge data center in Santiago. Developed by CoE, this building will feature the proprietary FastDeploy design and construction methodology, which allows scalable implementation of edge data centers with the same high-quality experience as the traditional model in what Scala said will be up to 50% less time.

Scala will invest about $400 million in Chile during the first phase of the three campuses. Strategically positioned, they will have a combined IT capacity of over 200MW, equivalent to around two times the total installed capacity currently in the country or twice the critical capacity of mature markets in Europe, such as Madrid. 

Scala is on track with its expansion plan. The provider is building new sites at Tamboré Campus (São Paulo state, Brazil), Porto Alegre city (Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil), and Lampa (Chile), as well as advanced projects to implement other data centers in Jundiaí city (São Paulo state, Brazil), Fortaleza city (Ceará state, Brazil), Chile, Mexico, and Colombia.

Since its founding in 2020, Scala has invested more than $1.6 billion in hyperscale data centers in Latin America and expects to reach 500MW of distributed capacity over the next five years in the four countries it operates. In 2023 alone, the company started working at three data centers in Latin America, explicitly located in Rio de Janeiro (13.2MW IT), Tamboré (6MW IT), and, now, Curauma (5MW IT).

For related articles, visit the Data Center Test Topic Center.

For more information on optical components and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.

To stay abreast of optical communications technology, subscribe to Lightwave’s Enabling Technologies Newsletter.