Scala Data Centers Builds Out 560 MW Power Substation in São Paulo, the Largest in Brazil
Scala Data Centers has begun building out the SSUBTB03 power substation, a project with a capacity of 560 MW, at its flagship Tamboré Campus.
This strategic investment will enable a monthly energy consumption greater than that of the entire country of Nicaragua, which exceeds $80 million.
The data center provider said this initiative results from almost three years of work involving a multidisciplinary group with government support.
The move reinforces Scala's commitment to operational excellence and customer satisfaction by enhancing the campus's power reliability and resiliency, and by providing an avenue for major cloud and content providers to grow.
Unprecedented Energy Demand
The Energy Research Company (EPE), responsible for planning the energy sector in Brazil, has identified a high demand for data center connections in the last two years.
The SSUBTB03 substation surpasses all other data center connection requests registered with the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME).
Located in the heart of Brazil's largest energy consumer market, São Paulo, the MME has authorized the connection of Scala Data Centers to the transmission system through the ordinance issued on October 5, 2023, as per the following link.
The SSUBTB03 substation, set to be completed in two stages, the first of which is scheduled for December 2024, complements the existing SSUBTB01 and SSUBTB02 substations, each with 60 MW capacity.
"The magnitude of this project is compared to a few in the world and is the tip of the spear for a larger initiative that combines the demand of our customers for green data centers to support its evergrowing demand for cloud and AI with our vision for the country," said Marcos Peigo, Co-Founder and CEO of Scala Data Centers.
Scala is a portfolio company of infrastructure funders DigitalBridge, who also counts Vantage Data Centers and DataBank among their ranks.
"Power is really the constraining factor. And that's going to become more evident to you and to the rest of the investor community over the next two years," remarked Marc Ganzi, CEO of DigitalBridge, speaking during that company's recent quarterly conference call, per Seeking Alpha.
Notably, Ganzi added:
"We started talking about this over two years ago at the Berlin Infrastructure Conference when I told the investor world, we're running out of power in five years.
Well, I was wrong about that. We're kind of running out of power in the next 18 to 24 months."
Scale is a Crucial Priority for Scala
Scala has continued to expand the Tamboré Campus, delivering the SGRUTB8 site with a 24 MW capacity and the SGRUTB12 site with a 6 MW capacity in April.
These two newly operational buildings have brought the developer's total number of hyperscaler-dedicated sites to five, in addition to the one dedicated to large enterprises.
Also, the company started constructing the SGRUTB9 and SGRUTB10 data centers, each with 36 MW, and its SGRUTB6-7 site, with a projected capacity of 44 MW, all single-tenant facilities.
Then too, Scala will start SGRUTB11 with 36 MW of capacity to serve multiple customers in three phases of development.
Additionally, for 2025 Scala plans to build a new data center cluster with 100 MW in critical capacity on the same campus.
The company's efforts are paying off. Scala has already committed $1.6 billion to the campus and is poised to inject an additional $3 billion into its expansion efforts when fully developed.
Meanwhile, this past February, Scala Data Centers announced that the legendary creator of the ubiquitous Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) metric, Christian Belady, had joined the company as a board member.
Concurrently that month, DigitalBridge announced that Belady is providing it with strategic counsel in support of the continued development of its global data center portfolio, which the company added is now positioned to meet "unprecedented demand" driven by investment in cloud and AI.
With expansion plans spanning all venues in the four countries in Latin America where they operate, Scala said it aims to ramp up its data center launches and expansions to reach $2 billion by 2024 and 2025.
About the Author
Sean Buckley
Sean Buckley is Editor in Chief of Endeavor Business Media's Lightwave, responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategies across the publication's websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products.
Matt Vincent
Matt Vincent is Editor in Chief of Data Center Frontier, where he leads editorial strategy and coverage focused on the infrastructure powering cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and the digital economy. A veteran B2B technology journalist with more than two decades of experience, Vincent specializes in the intersection of data centers, power, cooling, and emerging AI-era infrastructure. Since assuming the EIC role in 2023, he has helped guide Data Center Frontier’s coverage of the industry’s transition into the gigawatt-scale AI era, with a focus on hyperscale development, behind-the-meter power strategies, liquid cooling architectures, and the evolving energy demands of high-density compute, while working closely with the Digital Infrastructure Group at Endeavor Business Media to expand the brand’s analytical and multimedia footprint. Vincent also hosts The Data Center Frontier Show podcast, where he interviews industry leaders across hyperscale, colocation, utilities, and the data center supply chain to examine the technologies and business models reshaping digital infrastructure. Since its inception he serves as Head of Content for the Data Center Frontier Trends Summit. Before becoming Editor in Chief, he served in multiple senior editorial roles across Endeavor Business Media’s digital infrastructure portfolio, with coverage spanning data centers and hyperscale infrastructure, structured cabling and networking, telecom and datacom, IP physical security, and wireless and Pro AV markets. He began his career in 2005 within PennWell’s Advanced Technology Division and later held senior editorial positions supporting brands such as Cabling Installation & Maintenance, Lightwave Online, Broadband Technology Report, and Smart Buildings Technology. Vincent is a frequent moderator, interviewer, and keynote speaker at industry events including the HPC Forum, where he delivers forward-looking analysis on how AI and high-performance computing are reshaping digital infrastructure. He graduated with honors from Indiana University Bloomington with a B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing and lives in southern New Hampshire with his family, remaining an active musician in his spare time.
Voices of the Industry
