Uruguay is set to host a data centre technology campus with capacity of up to 500 MW under a strategic agreement between the government and Spanish solar energy company Solaria linking large-scale digital infrastructure development with new solar electricity generation.
The agreement was signed by Uruguay’s President, Yamandú Orsi and Solaria CEO Arturo Díaz-Tejeiro with the participation of state-owned electricity utility UTE. The project will operate under the Free Trade Zone regime and include up to 350 MW of solar photovoltaic generation capacity.
Solaria will develop and operate the Free Trade Zone, providing land, infrastructure and services to major data centre operators. The company will also develop the electrical infrastructure required to connect the campus to Uruguay’s 500 kV transmission grid.
The development will proceed in two phases, beginning with 200 MW of data centre capacity before adding another 300 MW. The phased approach establishes an initial operating scale while leaving room for substantial expansion as demand for computing infrastructure grows.
The project also includes the construction and operation of one or two solar photovoltaic plants with a combined capacity of up to 350 MW on land provided by UTE (Administración Nacional de Usinas y Trasmisiones Eléctricas). UTE will purchase the electricity generated under a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) envisaged for up to 40 years.
The project will enable Solaria to combine renewable energy generation, grid connection capacity and technology-ready land development, offering an integrated solution for major data centre operators.
The new solar generation capacity and the campus’s electricity demand will be developed in a coordinated manner, aligning the growth of digital infrastructure with the deployment of additional renewable energy capacity.
The campus, initially focused on cloud services, will incorporate water-efficient cooling technologies, including closed-loop systems or equivalent solutions designed to minimize water consumption.
The combination of a 500 MW campus, dedicated transmission infrastructure and additional photovoltaic generation places electricity supply at the center of the development. Its scale also underlines the infrastructure requirements associated with expanding cloud computing and artificial intelligence services.
This agreement represents another step forward in Solaria’s strategy to establish itself as a leading developer of energy and technology infrastructure for data centres, a market driven by the rapid growth of artificial intelligence and cloud computing.
The initiative expands the company’s business model into the development and operation of Free Trade Zones and technology campuses, creating new opportunities for recurring revenue from land, infrastructure and services, alongside renewable energy generation.
For Uruguay, the proposed campus would bring together high-capacity computing facilities and renewable power development within a single infrastructure programme. The planned phases, long-term electricity purchase arrangement and connection to the national transmission network form the core of the agreement. Actual construction and capacity delivery will depend on implementation of the proposed development.
The announcement does not specify a construction timetable, a commissioning date or the identities of data centre operators. Those details remain important to assessing how quickly the capacity could materialize.
