Google’s Nuvem Project to set up data centre in the Azores

The expansion of Google’s new intercontinental submarine cable, which will connect the United States to Bermuda and Portugal, will also include the opening of a data centre in the Azores, Jornal de Negócios reports.

According to the Vice-President of regional government, Artur Lima, the installation of this centre — whose objective is to accommodate servers to store and process data — should create, at an early stage, “between ten and 20 highly differentiated direct jobs”.

“It is an installation that will draw on the local market for a series of components required for its operation,” said the official, considering it “a very interesting investment for the region”, although he was unable to say how much it translates into concrete numbers. “The investment is 100% private and it is good for governments to be able to attract private investment from a company of Google’s size,” he said.

The future data centre is part of the Nuven project, announced in September 2023 and whose official launch took place on Friday. The project, which is expected to become operational in 2026, consists of a transatlantic cable system, about 6,900 kilometers long, connecting the North American city of Myrtle Beach (in the state of South Carolina) to Bermuda, the island of São Miguel and Sines. It is also planned to install a Cable Mooring Station in São Miguel.