A Defining Moment for Start Campus & Portugal: Powering Europe’s Next-Generation AI Infrastructure

This month marks a pivotal milestone for all of us here at Start Campus - one that underscores our vision, our commitment, and our role in shaping Europe’s future of artificial intelligence. 

We were very proud and excited to share that Start Campus has been selected by Nscale, in partnership with NVIDIA, for one of Europe’s first and largest deployments of the NVIDIA GB300 NVL72-platform GPUs in support of Microsoft at our SINES Data Campus in Sines, Portugal. 

Together with Nscale, we will deploy 12,600 NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs at our SIN01 Data Center - a deployment that delivers unmatched density, performance and resilience, placing Start Campus firmly at the forefront of AI-infrastructure development in Europe. This infrastructure will support Microsoft in delivering next-generation AI capabilities across the European Union.

🔗 Read our full announcement here
🔗 Read our partner Nscale’s announcement here

 The SIN01 (31 MW) Data Center on the SINES Data Campus, Portugal

What is the impact of this deployment?

This deployment is a realisation of our strategic ambition.

We are so honoured to be able to bring this technology to Portugal and believe that having this compute capacity within the European Union is a strategic foundation to the economic competitiveness of the region moving forward.

These advanced NVIDIA GPUs are designed to deliver exceptional performance for AI inference and training. They are purpose built to support the development, training, and deployment of larger and more complex AI models, providing clients with greater computational power and efficiency.

European based start-ups and large enterprises will have access to these NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GB300 GPUs at scale.

Bringing this magnitude of high-density AI compute to Sines enables our customers - including Microsoft via Nscale’s platform - to run the most demanding AI training, fine-tuning, and inference workloads. The NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 platform is purpose-built for next-generation models, and our SIN01 infrastructure, with seawater cooling technology, is the perfect home.

Demand for space at SIN01 exceeded expectations, reinforcing the market’s confidence in our ability to deliver time-to-market advantage and operational readiness for the world’s most advanced compute deployments. SIN01 is now fully leased, and the next chapter is already taking shape.

At Start Campus, we believe the future of digital innovation depends on infrastructure that is sovereign, sustainable, and scalable — and this deployment exemplifies all three.

What do we mean by Sovereign AI and why does this matter?

The multi-year agreement that we announced this month will see Nscale deliver NVIDIA AI infrastructure services to Microsoft while providing European customers with sovereign AI solutions within the EU.

Sovereign AI is about ensuring that nations and regions have the capacity to develop and run critical AI systems independently - just as they do with key aspects of the economy like energy or food. This doesn't just mean control over data, but arguably more importantly over the infrastructure that powers AI innovation. 

In today’s uncertain geopolitical environment, Europe’s ability to host and control its own AI compute infrastructure is vital to securing the economic benefits of AI while reducing reliance on external factors. Full technological sovereignty may be difficult in a global ecosystem, but this partnership with Nscale marks an important step toward strengthening Europe’s sovereign AI capacity.

The SIN01 (31 MW) Data Center on the SINES Data Campus, Portugal

Why Portugal, why Sines?

Power, connectivity, and sustainability form the foundation of next-generation AI infrastructure.

We know from our partner Nscale that several factors made Portugal and in particular Start Campus attractive:

1. Portugal has an abundance of renewable, low-cost power - According to Portugal’s national grid operator, Redes Energeticas Nacionais (REN), renewable sources supplied 71% of the country’s electricity consumption in 2024 which has increased to 81% of the national demand in the first quarter of 2025. According to data from the European Union, Portugal's overall energy prices are competitively below EU and Euro Area averages.
2. Portugal offers strong connectivity to the rest of the world, with high-capacity subsea cables like Equiano, 2Africa, EllaLink and many others providing ultra-low latency, global connectivity.
3. Start Campus offers the right technical expertise with the right infrastructure already in place for this partnership to take place. The focus on sustainability is also key to the long-term success of the project.

Portugal is now emerging as one of the most relevant players in Europe’s AI and data center landscape, combining abundant renewable energy with a stable, sovereign environment for long-term investment.

Sines offers a strategic Atlantic gateway - with port access, multiple submarine-cable landings, and low-latency global connectivity linking Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The 1.2 GW SINES Data Campus is engineered for maximum flexibility - from powered-shell to turnkey and build-to-suit – and an AI-ready by design.

Together, these elements make Sines a natural hub for high-density, low-carbon digital infrastructure that will power Europe’s AI future.

Looking ahead to SIN02 — and beyond.

While the SIN01 deployment represents a giant leap forward, we are already advancing SIN02, our 180 MW next-generation facility on the SINES Data Campus. Construction preparations are underway, with the goal of welcoming our first customers into the operational facility in 2027 - continuing our journey to deliver ultra-dense AI compute, liquid-cooled performance, and unrivalled scale at speed.

The 1.2 GW SINES Data Campus, Portugal

Our thanks to the team and all our partners.

This achievement reflects the extraordinary work of the Start Campus team — from design and engineering to operations, sustainability, and connectivity.

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who made the Sines Campus a world-class destination for AI-infrastructure. We also extend our appreciation to Nscale, for their partnership and trust in our readiness to deliver at scale — and to NVIDIA, for enabling this new frontier in AI compute across Europe.

To our team: thank you again. This is your moment as much as it is the company’s. To our partners: thank you for choosing Start Campus. And to the broader ecosystem: join us as we build the future of compute in Europe.

Together we are turning vision into reality, and in doing so, we are putting Europe’s AI-infrastructure future on the map, building the digital backbone for the continent’s AI future, right here from the Atlantic Coast in Sines.

We are only getting started… 

Written by Robert Dunn

Robert Dunn is Chief Executive Officer of Start Campus, developer of the industry-leading 1.2 GW SINES DC in Portugal. With over 15 years of experience in the data center industry he and the Lisbon-headquartered team are responsible for Europe's largest and most sustainable AI-ready data ecosystem. Before joining Start Campus, Dunn held key roles at Digital Realty and Laing O’Rourke, leading new-build, conversion, and fit-out data center projects.

Get in touch with Robert Dunn