Regional Government of Extremadura Partners with MERLIN Properties and Edged Energy to Promote Two Major AI Data Center Campuses in the Region

These will be ultra-efficient, state-of-the-art facilities with zero water consumption and powered by green energy, located in Navalmoral de la Mata and Valdecaballeros

Mérida, 14^th January – The President of the Extremadura Regional Government, María Guardiola, has signed protocols with MERLIN Edged, subsidiary of MERLIN Properties and Edged Energy, to develop two large-scale sustainable data center campuses in the provinces of Cáceres and Badajoz, focused on generative artificial intelligence and advanced computing. The chosen locations, Navalmoral de la Mata and Valdecaballeros, stand out for their abundant electrical power supply, which would allow the progressive development of multiple data center buildings with approximately 1GW of IT capacity in each site. MERLIN Edged will be responsible for the technical design, engineering, construction, equipment, long-term operation of the facilities, along with attracting turnkey tenants from the international market.

The Navalmoral de la Mata campus will be located on the Expacio Navalmoral grounds and will be connected to the Arañuelo 400kV substation, owned by Redeia. The facility will consist of between 8 and 10 buildings, each with 100MW of IT capacity and will use dark fiber networks coming from Lisbon towards Extremadura, including the one established by MERLIN-Edged to interconnect its data centers in Vila Franca de Xira (Lisboa), Getafe (Madrid), Zona Franca (Barcelona), and Arasur (Vitoria). This ready-to-build landplot will be the first campus subject to international promotion.

The Valdecaballeros campus will be located on the grounds of the decommissioned Nuclear Power Plant and will be connected to the Valdecaballeros 400kV substation, also owned by Redeia. It will count with 10 buildings, each with 100MW of IT capacity, and will require preliminary infrastructure works for road connectivity and fiber. The land will also require local and regional urban planning procedures, so this campus will be promoted internationally at a later stage.

With this pioneering public-private collaboration project, the Extremadura Government and MERLIN-Edged aim to leverage the region’s vast sustainable energy generation capacity, which is derived from renewable sources and nuclear energy for low or zero carbon emissions. Currently, Extremadura produces approximately six times the electricity it consumes, and many of its facilities are unable to feed the entire production into the grid. The development of cutting-edge technology in an electricity-intensive industrial activity such as data centers would substantially rebalance the generation-consumption relationship, creating high-skilled, high-paying jobs both in the construction and subsequent operation of the facilities, as well as generating significant indirect economic benefits for the region, supporting its economic, social, and demographic development.

The President of the Extremadura Regional Government, María Guardiola, emphasized that with this agreement “the competitive advantages of Extremadura in terms of energy are being leveraged”. Furthermore, the President stated that “with these two data center campuses, the region is entering a new era where we are showing the world that traditionally rural areas can be at the forefront thanks to cutting-edge technologies”.

MERLIN Properties, a leading real estate company in Spain and Portugal, and Edged Energy, a global sustainable technology developer for data centers, partnered in 2020 to promote, build, equip, and operate cutting-edge digital infrastructure in the Iberian Peninsula. MERLIN-Edged data centers are at the forefront of international innovation in sustainability, with zero water consumption and extremely high efficiency in converting electrical power into computing capacity. They are currently designed to provide customers with a Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.15, compared to the European average of 1.46 and the global average of 1.58, according to the Uptime Institute. They operate exclusively on electricity from renewable sources and are specifically designed to minimize and offset their carbon footprint.

According to Jakob Carnemark, CEO of Edged Energy, “Our mission is to create data centers for positive impact, and we are proud to contribute to the Iberian Peninsula’s rapidly expanding digital economy. The region offers unprecedented fiber connectivity with massive submarine connections worldwide and boasts reliable, abundant and low-cost renewable energy. Our commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency aligns perfectly with Extremadura’s commitment to use innovation and technology to fight climate change and help safeguard the area’s immense natural resources.”

The facilities will feature ThermalWorks Advanced Waterless Cooling system, specifically created to dissipate heat from generative AI and advanced computing systems. The modular system supports densities of up to 70kW per rack with air cooling and 200kW per rack with a plug-and-play liquid cooling system. Unlike other waterless designs, this technology is ultra-efficient and reduces energy overhead by as much as 74% compared to conventional data centers.

MERLIN-Edged has facilities in Spain and Portugal, with operations in Madrid-Getafe (MAD 01 with 20MW in operation, expandable to 27MW), Barcelona-Zona Franca (BCN 01 with 16MW in operation, expandable to 22MW), Bilbao-Arasur Campus (ARA 03 with 24MW in operation, ARA 02 and ARA 01 with 46MW and 60MW under construction, expandable to 300MW), and Lisboa-Vila Franca de Xira Campus (LIS 01 to 05 under construction, totaling 180MW, expandable to 300MW).

For Ismael Clemente, CEO of MERLIN Properties, “Having the opportunity to design, develop, market, and eventually operate two hyperscale data center clusters in Extremadura of this magnitude is an immense joy. But above all, it represents a huge responsibility. For the first time, the region has a major competitive advantage over other territories based on its energy generation capacity. We can contribute to developing it with state-of-the-art digital infrastructure that attracts high-value-added employment and population. The success of this initiative will also have ripple effects in auxiliary industries, services, public revenues, professional training, and universities. I must thank the Extremadura Regional Government for identifying the potential of these sites for data centers and engaging with this opportunity, arisen from a series of prior conversations held with the previous Administration regarding logistics in Navalmoral de la Mata. It is an extraordinary example of a public-private collaboration which has materialized into a concrete and exciting project, with few comparables in size at an international level.”

About Edged Energy

Edged is a globally vertically integrated on-demand data center platform. Its operations are carbon and water neutral. Edged is an Endeavour company. For more information, visit www.edged.es.

About MERLIN Properties

MERLIN Properties SOCIMI, S.A. (MC:MRL) is the largest publicly listed real estate company on the Spanish and Portuguese stock exchanges. It specializes in the promotion, acquisition, and management of commercial real estate assets in the Iberian Peninsula, primarily investing in office buildings, shopping centers, logistics platforms, and data centers. MERLIN Properties is part of key indices such as IBEX 35, Euro STOXX 600, FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Index, GPR Global Index, GPR-250 Index, MSCI Small Caps, and DJSI.

Visit www.merlinproperties.com for more information.

About MERLIN-Edged

MERLIN Properties and Edged Energy joined forces in 2020 to promote, build, equip, and operate state-of-the-art, carbon-neutral data centers in the Iberian Peninsula. Their facilities are located in Barcelona, Madrid, Extremadura, Lisbon and the Basque Country.

For more information, please contact:

Nuria Salas, nuria.salas@tinkle.es, +34 629 56 84 71

Sarah Estébanez, sarah.estebanez@tinkle.es, +34 636 62 80 41

Xana Pena, xana.pena@tinkle.es, +34 674 73 47 82