Spain is emerging as a key point for the installation of data centers, fundamental for the infrastructure that supports the digital economy, which is gaining more and more importance in the country’s GDP. Furthermore, these centers are essential to attract investment and create jobs.
For Spain to consolidate itself as a true digital infrastructure center in southern Europe, comparable to cities such as London, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, Fibratel has identified several trends that should guide the construction of modern and efficient data centers.
These trends must also address the major challenges of these facilities, such as high energy consumption, since this industry consumes approximately 205 TWh, which represents 1% of global energy consumption.
“New methods must be adopted, such as liquid cooling, or liquid cooling, more necessary than ever to be able to operate with computer applications that require large processing capacity, such as AI, blockchain, etc. Simply put, air cooling shows limitations, and data center operators must rely on the thermal transfer of water and other fluids in the racks to achieve efficient, cost-effective and sustainable cooling. ‘Liquid cooling’ solutions have to be on everyone’s mind, it was already a clear trend in 2024 and will be in 2025,” explains Jesús Díaz-Naranjo, Engineering Director of /fdata and /ftic.
Turn Spain into a reference hub in data centers
The experts at /fdata, Fibratel’s specialized unit in the design, construction and operation of data centers, highlight that the main challenges are:
- energy efficiency. This can be achieved by locating centers in areas with temperate climates, using renewable energy, managing resources responsibly and adopting more efficient innovative technologies.
Keys to the consolidation of Spain as a reference hub in data centers in southern Europe
- Data center solutions and technologies designed to be scalable at low cost, such as modular data centers, are gaining relevance. The annual growth rate of these centers is expected to exceed 18% in the next ten years. Modularity allows for rapid and flexible deployment, adapting energy consumption to real needs, resulting in cost savings
- For applications that require low latency and local autonomy, such as edge computing, IoT and remote offices, micro data centers are a good alternative to traditional data centers, as they are highly adaptable and respond to specific local workloads
- efficient management of resources. Diego Fernández, director of operations at Fibratel, points out that although AI increases the necessary capacity in data centers, it also makes it possible to eliminate manual tasks, optimize the operation, predict errors and improve management. The integration of IT infrastructure and operations automation tools (AIOps) will be key to generating efficiency.
These technological trends must be complemented with investments to ensure a robust power transmission and distribution network for data centers, as well as address the shortage of technological talent in this sector. Furthermore, the growing demand for digital infrastructure is widening the gap between the need for experts and the supply of professionals.
This is one of the great challenges of the sector, which must be addressed with internal training programs and collaboration with educational institutions and organizations, as Fibratel does.
