Uruguayan President Yamandú Orsi signed an agreement Wednesday with Spanish energy company Solaria Energía y Medio Ambiente to develop a data center campus with capacity of up to 500 megawatts, in an investment the government values at US 5.7 billion. The government described the deal as the largest investment in Uruguay’s history. Consequently, the project includes 5.5 billion for data center infrastructure and US$200 million for a dedicated 350-megawatt solar plant. Opposition lawmakers have questioned Solaria’s ability to finance the development and challenged the government’s estimates of the jobs it will create.

Solaria plans to build the campus under Uruguay’s free-trade-zone regime in two phases. The first phase will deliver 200 megawatts of data center capacity in Canelones, alongside the solar plant in Florida, while the second will add 300 megawatts in San José. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2027. At its planned capacity, the campus would represent almost one-tenth of Uruguay’s installed electricity generation capacity.

Solaria Outlines 40-Year Power Agreement

In a filing with Spain’s securities regulator, Solaria said the memorandum provides for a power purchase agreement of up to 40 years with state utility UTE. The company will develop and operate the free-trade zone and its connection to the transmission grid. The campus will initially focus on cloud services and use low-water cooling systems. Solaria has operated in Uruguay for almost a decade, and Orsi called the agreement “a signal from Uruguay to the world,” crediting policies maintained by successive governments.

The government estimates that the project will create 3,100 jobs during construction and 1,500 permanent positions. However, the opposition National Party plans to summon Industry Minister Fernanda Cardona to Parliament to answer questions about the agreement. Senator Sebastián Da Silva questioned whether Solaria had the financial capacity to undertake the investment. “There is not a single private analyst, of the 10 I consulted, who tells me Solaria is in a position to take on a US$5.7 billion investment,” Da Silva said.

Darío Castiglioni, UTE’s opposition board member, has requested the agreement’s documentation and the technical and legal reports supporting it. UTE Vice President Roberto Bentancor said the parties had maintained confidentiality because Solaria had “other offers” that could have led it to drop Uruguay. He pledged to provide the requested information. The disclosure could bring greater scrutiny to the agreement’s terms, technical assessments and financial commitments as the project moves toward its planned construction start.