PLMJ advises Start Campus on the creation of a sustainable mega data centre in Sines

PLMJ advised Start Campus, a company owned by Davidson Kempner (DK) and Pioneer Point Partners, on the Sines 4.0 project. The project involves an investment of up to €3.5 billion to create one of the largest data processing centres in Europe. This centre will meet the growing demand from technology companies such as Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft, and it will be entirely powered by green energy. To advise the Start Campus, PLMJ set up a multidisciplinary team led by André Figueiredo, the partner who heads the Banking and Finance and Capital Markets practices. The team included partners João Marques Mendes (Public Law and Energy), Inês Pinto da Costa (Corporate M&A and Energy), Pedro Lomba (TMC) and Isaque Ramos (Tax) and their own teams.

It is estimated that the Sines 4.0 Project will create 1200 skilled jobs and have a useable capacity of 450 MW, which will make it one of the largest data centres in Europe. The capacity to generate renewable energy at competitive costs in Portugal, and specifically in Sines, was a decisive factor in the choice of the site and allows it to be supplied with 100% sustainable energy. The Portuguese Government classified this as a project of Potential National Interest (PIN).