Start Campus, Portugal: Clean energy for large datacenter

View from above: Start Campus Building in Sines

Start Campus is building and operating the SINES Data Campus, a 1.2 GW hyperscale data center in Sines, Portugal, set to become Europe’s largest and most sustainable digital ecosystem. This state-of-the-art facility offers powered shell, turnkey, and build-to-suit solutions, providing maximum flexibility for customers.

Strategically located in Portugal’s largest industrial zone, ZILS, just 90 km south of Lisbon, the campus benefits from direct access to subsea cable landings that connect Europe, Africa, and the Americas—positioning it as a true gateway for global connectivity. Its carrier-neutral design delivers ultra-low latency integration across submarine and terrestrial networks, enabling seamless digital traffic flow worldwide.

View the video to discover how this project anchors Portugal’s role as a hyperscale leader.

Global demand for digital infrastructure is accelerating, driven by hyperscale cloud and AI workloads. In Europe, IT power needs are expected to grow significantly, creating competition for energy between industries. Data centers face supply constraints and pressure to meet decarbonization goals without sacrificing performance. Start Campus needed to ensure reliable power availability while integrating sustainability solutions.

Exterior of Start Campus’s mega data center, highlighting modern architecture, energy‑efficient design, and network connectivity hubs.

Siemens Energy is enabling Start Campus to meet hyperscale energy needs with advanced engineering. A phased approach ensures seamless scaling while maintaining sustainability goals.

Phase 1 included delivery of Blue GIS technology, transformers, and electrical infrastructure to support early operations
Future phases will add substations, expand capacity, and integrate seawater cooling for efficient temperature control

The SINES Data Campus is AI-ready and integrates advanced liquid cooling technologies into its flexible, scalable infrastructure. Powered entirely by 100% renewable energy and targeting an industry-leading PUE of 1.1 and WUE of 0, it harnesses ocean water cooling to eliminate freshwater usage. Designed with resilience at its core, the facility meets and exceeds Tier III standards, ensuring maximum uptime for mission-critical operations. Certified under ISO/IEC 27001, with a SOC 2 Type II report, Start Campus offers customers unmatched reliability, security, and sustainability—making it a future-proof hub for AI-scale data growth and global digital integration.

data center rendering siemens energy