Brazilian neutral network, digital infrastructure and data centre group V.tal has agreed a contract with Atlas Renewable Energy, an international renewable energy solutions provider, which says it is entering the data centre sector in Latin America through the deal.
As part of the agreement, announced late last week, Atlas is building a solar plant in the Brazilian city of Arinos in northern Minas Gerais state in the southeast of the country. This will generate about 1,150 GWh of clean energy annually.
Carlos Barrera, CEO of Atlas Renewable Energy, says: “With this contract, we aim to service Latin America’s data centres by shifting towards sustainable energy solutions, especially given their ever-increasing importance in our region and the world,” said. He adds that this is only the first step; the company is looking forward to supporting the operations of digital infrastructure companies throughout the region.
The Draco solar plant as it will be known, will dedicate 710 GWh of its full capacity annually to powering V.tal’s buildings throughout Brazil, as well as the data centre park owned by Tecto, V.tal’s data centre business unit, which offers edge and hyperscale solutions.
The remaining capacity will be available for purchase by other companies seeking to meet their sustainability goals. A hospital network and a poultry producer have both already signed contracts to receive power from the new plant.
It’s been a busy period for V.tal, which late last week secured US$630 million financing from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to expand its fibre network in Brazil.
The funded project reportedly allows more than 1.6 million new homes to be connected with fibre by V.tal by 2028, as well as about 4,000 schools. The total value of the project planned by V.tal is said to be US$1.64 billion.
The Teletime news service says that at the end of the third quarter the operator had passed 22.3 million houses with its fibre optic network. V.tal is also in the process of acquiring Oi's 4 million fibre subscriber base and is enjoying growth in the data centre business.
