Scala AI City (AI City Campus)

Status: Announced / Initial Development Phase   |   Location: Eldorado do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Project Overview

The Scala AI City project is a revolutionary hyperscale initiative in Eldorado do Sul, Brazil, conceived to be the first Gigawatt-scale data center campus in Latin America and one of the largest globally. With the potential for an astonishing 4.75 GW of total IT capacity across its sprawling 10 million square meter site, this development is a direct answer to the soaring global demand for infrastructure dedicated to Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) workloads. The project’s magnitude is reflected in its anticipated full investment, which could reach upwards of US$90 billion over its multi-decade development. The strategic location in Rio Grande do Sul is pivotal, granting access to Brazil's predominantly renewable energy grid (powered mainly by hydro and wind). Scala has secured a monumental 5 GW power connection authorisation, backing its claim to run the entire city on 100% certified renewable energy through long-term Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs). This environmental commitment is further amplified by its cooling design: using advanced liquid cooling technology to support ultra-high-density racks (up to $150 \text{kW}$ per rack) while maintaining a Zero Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE), thus eliminating strain on local water resources. Beyond power and cooling, the campus is positioned as a hyper-connectivity hub, with direct links to the Malbec submarine cable, offering sub-80 ms latency to North America—a critical feature for international AI training models. With Phase 1 commencing with an initial $54 \text{MW}$ of IT capacity, the Scala AI City is not just a data centre; it is being developed as a full-fledged technology ecosystem, partnering with the local government to attract further investment, create thousands of jobs, and cement Brazil’s leadership position in the global digital and sustainable economy.

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