Renewables as an Industrial Attraction: Blackstone to Invest €7.5 Billion in a Data Center in Zaragoza

The announcement that Blackstone will invest €7.5 billion to develop the first phase of a data center campus in Calatorao (Zaragoza) has once again highlighted how the availability of renewable energy, beyond being an export asset for regions, has become an industrial attraction that drives socio-economic development. This week, the Government of Aragón declared Blackstone’s investment to be of “autonomous interest” due to its “special relevance for economic, social, and territorial development in Aragón.”

As evidenced in the two editions held of Foro Sella, driven by Foro Industria y Energía, Aragón occupies a privileged position to host data centers, which represent a significant source of wealth and employment. According to Blackstone’s project forecasts, up to 1,400 direct jobs would be generated annually.

Mike Berners-Lee, a professor at the University of Lancaster, pointed out at the first edition of Foro Sella that “Aragón can provide a great continuity in the supply of renewable energy, making it an excellent location for energy-intensive companies like data centers.” Jorge Azcón, president of the Government of Aragón, stated that the challenge for the region is not only to “produce more energy but also to consume it: we have elements that allow us to be very competitive,” he declared.

In this way, “energy is a key factor in competitiveness for companies, but also for society,” as explained by Miguel Marzo, president of CEOE Aragón, who added that “Aragón has the necessary resources to be competitive: we have natural resources, land, sun, water, and we also have a strong business network in this sector, with organizations from outside, but also those born here.”

Alongside these resources, David Blázquez, responsible for Infrastructure, Energy, and Sustainability Policy at Amazon Web Services (AWS), highlighted at the latest edition of Foro Sella the existing talent in the region, which has allowed us to “build the brain of digitalization, constituting a European and global example.”

Blackstone‘s project, which plans to be located in a new industrial estate covering 224 hectares, will join the deployment already made by AWS in the area: it currently has three centers in three Aragonese locations: Villanueva de Gállego, El Burgo de Ebro, and Huesca. These sites are powered 100% by renewable energy, with a total capacity of 1.4 GW.

Microsoft is also planning to build three data centers in Aragón, which would be located in the technology parks of the Centrovía Industrial Park in La Muela, the Villamayor de Gállego Industrial Park, and the La Cartuja Technology Park. The latter park has also been chosen by Meta, which has announced its intention to install a data center there.

A Growing Sector with Significant Energy Needs

With the rise of artificial intelligence, which is increasingly present and applied in production processes, the technology sector requires greater energy demand to ensure both its operation and cooling. This is precisely what Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, warned a few months ago: digital advances are progressing much faster than electrical systems can keep up.

This explosion in energy demand is occurring in a context where awareness of energy sustainability is growing, leading large technology companies to invest in increasingly environmentally friendly solutions for their production processes, assembly lines, and maintenance of their systems.