Start Campus and EXA Infrastructure connect Sines Green Giant Data Center Campus to Madrid with New Terrestrial Routes

EXA Infrastructure responds to growing terrestrial data traffic in Europe with investment in two new diverse and redundant routes in Sines, Portugal

SINES, PORTUGAL – July 10^th , 2023 - Start Campus, the company responsible for the development of 100% green energy ecosystems, announces EXA Infrastructure (EXA), the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America, has committed to invest in two new diverse and redundant terrestrial route in Sines, Portugal.

EXA’s strategic network expansion in Sines links Start Campus’s SINES Project, a 495 MW hyperscale data center development, to its backbone in Madrid, Spain. The new connectivity hub will be the gateway to for European, African and American digital platforms.

“We are excited to partner with EXA and bring this new network route to Sines, Portugal,” says Afonso Salema, Chief Executive Officer at Start Campus. “While we are connecting our SINES project, EXA’s newly constructed network lays the foundation for a new era of connectivity for Europe and the rest of the world. We are building a brand new continental crossroad to enable diverse and redundant access to key markets throughout Europe and beyond. EXA’s commitment to bridging our SINES Project with Madrid, Spain, with new routes, is step of many to enable and fortify high-speed multi-continental connectivity to and from Portugal.”

The key location of the SINES Project further strengthens Portugal as a connectivity hub for Europe, providing access via transatlantic cable landings and EXA’s expansive terrestrial network route.

EXA Infrastructure, VP of Network Investments, Steve Roberts said: “EXA continues to invest and expand our network to ensure we are enabling the growth and success of our customers.

We are witnessing an increasing demand for enhanced connectivity routes in and out of southern Europe and we are pleased to partner with Start Campus to power this demand by connecting Sines to our pan European backbone.”

Set to be ready for service in late 2023, SINES Project will be one of the largest Hyperscaler data center ecosystems in a strategic European location, acting as a gateway between Europe, Africa, the Americas and beyond. The project benefits from ocean water cooling systems, high-voltage power grids, and high-capacity international fiber optic cables with connections to Africa and the Americas. Being fully powered by renewable and affordable energy, Start Campus offers a 100% sustainable campus powered by, 24 x 7 renewable energy facilities resulting in a low Total Cost of Operations (TCO) for its customers.

Last year, Start Campus signed an agreement with EllaLink, the company that recently inaugurated the first direct high-speed connection by submarine cable between Europe and South America. The partnership provides a framework of cooperation between Start Campus and EllaLink guaranteeing that the infrastructures interact, knowledge is shared and synergies are established to promote Sines as a new digital hub in global data network systems.

Today, Sines is directly connected to Lisbon and Madrid in Europe, Fortaleza, São Paulo & Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. In the future, the connectivity will be extended to Marseille, Barcelona and Casablanca and furthermore to the United States, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

About Start Campus

Start Campus is responsible for the development of the project SINES, a Hyperscaler Data Center campus with a capacity of up to 495 MW in Sines, an investment of up to €3.5 billion. It will be one of Europe's largest data center campuses and responds to growing demand from large international technology companies. It will create up to 1,200 highly skilled direct jobs and 8,000 indirect jobs by 2028. Due to the location of Sines, will be an added benefit from all strategic advantages such as seawater cooling systems, access to the high voltage power grid, connectivity through the connection to high-capacity international fiber optic cables with North America, Africa, and South America. The SINES project will be one of the largest data center ecosystems with 100% green energy at competitive prices in a premium European location, which is the perfect gateway to Europe and the world. For more information about Start Campus, visit www.startcampus.pt.

About EXA Infrastructure

Headquartered in London, EXA Infrastructure is a portfolio company of I Squared Capital and the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America and owns 125,000 kilometres of fibre network across 34 countries. EXA’s network connects 300 cities and offers 13Tier 3-equivalent data centres, with sub-sea routes that include three transatlantic cables, one the lowest latency link between Europe and North America.