Scala Data Centers has launched its first operational site in the Brazilian Southern Region, based in Porto Alegre city. With 4.8MW of IT, the SPOAPA01 data center is part of the HyperEdge family and is configured to meet the demand for connection and distributed computing.
As the result of a $49.3 million investment, the data center is dedicated to Hyperscale customers, who have an enormous demand for infrastructures designed for large volumes of data and processing that are highly scalable.
Designed with what it says is high energy efficiency and sustainability, the installation materializes a Scala strategic investment in Rio Grande do Sul state and reinforces the company's purpose in enabling the future of Latin America. SPOAPA01 data center is based in the Navegantes neighborhood, close to Salgado Filho International Airport, in a region called 4th District – which is a key innovation and technology hub in Rio Grande do Sul.
All about location
The new data center’s location also offers other amenities for its clients. It is close to legacy data centers, in a highly connected region, and near the Malbec System, a submarine cable that, in the future, will have a branch connecting Porto Alegre to the city of Buenos Aires.
This strategic position provides significant advantages for Scala customers, providing low-latency communication with the Argentine market.
"We are excited about the inauguration of this new data center, which occupies a strategic position close to data centers that serve telecom operators,” said Marcos Peigo, CEO and co-founder of Scala. “Despite the obsolete architecture, density and capacity compared to Hyperscale customer standards, these other sites in the region represent relevant points of connection and traffic interest. With this site now in operation, our customers finally have the alternative of a global standard data center to serve the region's growing market, including support for the Buenos Aires region in Argentina.”
Sustainability focus
Another key focus of the new data center is environmental sustainability.
HyperEdge SPOAPA01 data center is 100% powered by certified renewable energy, which aligns with the company's portfolio. The building was designed to operate with a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of less than 1.4 and a WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness, which measures the efficiency of water use in the facilities) of zero since it uses closed circuit and air cooling.
By employing the FastDeploy approach, Scala's proprietary design and construction methodology, which allows deployment in up to 50% less time compared to the traditional model, the construction met sustainability goals. This solution is based on prefabricated and transportable modular components integrated into the buildings where the data center is located.
The company's Center of Excellence in Engineering (CoE) led the project, which has more than 400 engineers, architects, and data center specialists across Latin America. Scala's CoE works in the planning and execution of all activities related to the construction and operation of a data center, from choosing the land through planning, design, construction, and commissioning - which speeds up delivery to customers and brings gains in scale, energy efficiency, as well as greater control and visibility of projects.
Scala currently operates nine data centers. Four are at the Tamboré Campus in Barueri (São Paulo state, Brazil). The others are distributed across the cities of São Paulo, Campinas (São Paulo state, Brazil), São João de Meriti (Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil), Curauma (Chile), Porto Alegre (Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil) and Tepotzotlán (Mexico). Out of this group, the last four became operational in 2023.
The company is also building new sites at the Tamboré Campus and Chile, in addition to having projects underway to implement new data centers in Jundiaí City (Brazil), Chile, Mexico, and Colombia. Since its founding in 2020, Scala has invested more than $1.6 billion in its Latin America projects. It expects to reach 500MW of distributed capacity within the next five years in the four countries where it will operate.
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