Schneider Electric and Start Campus Establish Foundation for AI in Portugal

Schneider Electric partnered with Start Campus to deliver and operate its 26 Megawatt (MW) SIN01 facility in Sines, Portugal. The facility, operational since 4Q24 and the first building of Start Campus’ 1.2-Gigawatt (GW) campus, leverages a comprehensive suite of solutions from Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure for Data Centers portfolio and Sustainability Services to set new benchmarks for resilient and sustainable workloads for AI, Cloud, and GPU-accelerated computing clusters.

The facility, built on repurposed industrial land near a decommissioned power station, has been designed to deliver advanced energy efficiency. By leveraging intelligent data from Schneider Electric’s connected infrastructure solutions and utilizing the real-time insights enabled via EcoStruxure software, the company can achieve unparalleled levels of operational efficiency, reliability, and scalability.

“Start Campus’ vision for creating one of Europe’s largest AI data center hubs has been unprecedented, and we’re honoured to have partnered with them, bringing our expertise from across the data center, buildings, energy and industrial sectors to help establish these new foundations at SIN01,” said Pablo Ruiz Escribano, Senior Vice President, Secure Power and Data Center Business, Schneider Electric, Europe. “This new digital gateway will not only encourage more investment and innovation into the region but ensure hyperscale and cloud providers can leverage world-leading data center capacity to power their AI infrastructure.”

Located on Portugal’s southwest coast, SIN01 is now the largest data center facility ever commissioned in the country. It is also a pivotal milestone in positioning Portugal at the center of the global data economy, strengthening its role as a key hub for digital infrastructure in both the European market and globally. SIN01 is optimised to meet the high-performance demands of AI, hyperscale cloud, and digital acceleration. Its strategic location in Sines also provides direct access to high-capacity international networks and subsea connectivity routes.

Start Campus, which recently announced an €8.5 billion investment to accelerate its campus buildout in response to AI demand, is one of the only operators in Europe to have fully secured over 1GW of grid power. As a Project of National Interest, Start Campus has also built strong foundations for data centers and economic growth in Portugal, working with its local community to create up to 1,200 highly skilled, direct jobs and a further 9,000 indirect roles throughout the project's duration.