Microsoft plans to invest $7.16 billion to build new data centers in Aragon, Spain

Microsoft which recently announced the opening of the first cloud regions of data centers in Spain is reportedly planning to invest billions of dollars to build new data centers in Aragon, Spain’s northeastern region.

The news comes via Reuters which first reported that Microsoft is planning to invest 6.69 billion euros ($7.16 billion). The news agency quotes a local newspaper, El Heraldo, which reported that the tech giant has already applied for a construction permit to build the data center with the approval of Aragon’s regional government.

The regional government has further informed that Microsoft has promised to spread out the investment over 10 years. As you may know, Aragon has been a major cloud computing hub within Europe, and Microsoft wants to tap that region to accelerate the development of the AI economy. 

Microsoft’s move to build data centers in Aragon comes after Amazon’s recent announcement

You might be wondering why Microsoft is taking its interest in Aragon. To understand this, let’s go back a month. Microsoft’s biggest cloud computing competitor, Amazon Web Services, has already announced to invest 15.7 billion euros over 10 years to build a data center in Aragon, Spain. That’s the main reason why Microsoft is planning to build a data center in Aragon. 

Amazon also announced that the data centers in the Aragon region of Spain would be fully powered by renewable energy. For the uninitiated, the Aragon region is popular for its large wind power capacity. And, Amazon wants to make the most of it, so does Microsoft. 

Microsoft has been investing in various regions to capitalize on the increasing demand for cloud computing services. The company recently announced a $1 billion investment to build a data center in Thailand. Moreover, the Redmond giant announced the Datacenter Community Pledge to make data centers more sustainable earlier this month.