Walter Finch
GIBRALTAR has announced plans for a £1.8 billion data centre that will become one of Europe’s largest facilities when completed in 2033.
The 250-megawatt facility was unveiled yesterday by Chief Minister Fabian Picardo and represents the biggest single investment project in Gibraltar’s history.
Pelagos Data Centres will build the complex in five phases across a 20,000 square metre site near the port.
Construction is expected to create 500 jobs, with 100 permanent positions once operational.
The first phase should be running by late 2027, with subsequent sections completed at 18-month intervals.
The project comes as demand for data centre capacity across Europe surges due to increased adoption of artificial intelligence across industries.
Companies are racing to secure processing power as AI applications require significantly more computing resources than traditional internet services.
Konstantin Sokolov, chairman of Pelagos Data Centres, said the facility would position Gibraltar as a key node in Europe’s digital infrastructure.
“AI is emerging as the defining technology of our time,” he said at yesterday’s launch event.
The data centre will operate independently from Gibraltar’s existing power grid and aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030 using renewable energy and liquefied natural gas.
The company is also exploring options to recover waste heat from the facility for community heating projects.
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Economic Development Minister Sir Joe Bossano described it as the most significant infrastructure investment since the 1990s, when Gibraltar established itself as a telecommunications hub following the military’s departure.
The facility will be built to Tier III standards and offer services to both public and private sector clients across Europe.
It will be carrier-neutral, allowing multiple telecommunications providers to serve customers from the site.
Gibraltar’s location between Europe and Africa, combined with its relaxed friendly framework, has attracted previous data centre investments including Continent 8’s existing facility.
However, the Pelagos project dwarfs earlier developments in scale.
Christian Ryan, who heads Gibraltar operations for Pelagos, said the project would help diversify the territory’s economy beyond its traditional finance and gaming sectors.
The company currently employs 50 staff in London and Gibraltar and plans to hire locally for operational roles.
The site will include public leisure facilities for the local community. Construction is scheduled to begin in early 2026, pending final approvals.
The announcement coincides with Gibraltar National Day celebrations this weekend, providing a boost to sentiment about the territory’s economic prospects following years of Brexit-related uncertainty.
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