aicep Global Parques, EllaLink and Start Campus, the company responsible for the SINES hyperscale sustainable data centre, are working together to create the ‘Atlantic Hub,’ enhancing connectivity between Europe, North and South America and Africa.

The partnership, which includes collaboration from the Portuguese Government in coordinating various public entities at national and local levels, aims to establish Sines, Portugal, as a safe, neutral, resilient and easy place to land submarine cables. This includes:

• A transparent and comprehensive solution to streamline the licensing and construction authorization process, establishing a risk controlled environment with unique regulatory conditions for landing submarine cables in a strategic location for intercontinental connectivity;
• The creation of a “Cable Protection zone” in front of Sines for pre-licensing of submarine cable routes, ensuring enhanced and controlled cable protection;
• The construction, in Sines, of several multi-tenant, robust and diverse fronthaul infrastructures for submarine cables, connecting the SINES data centre, EllaLink Cable Landing Station (CLS) and other cable landing points, and Sines Tech.

Sines thus positions itself as a secure, transparent, and neutral submarine hub, capable of attracting more international cables due to a unique, simplified location, with low risk and high security, connected to large-scale interconnection hubs and data centres, with 100% sustainable energy solutions.

This project guarantees the reinforcement of an ecosystem conducive to the landing of submarine cables with the connection between the sustainable Hyperscale data centre SINES, high-speed submarine cables such as EllaLink, and access to clean energy sources and cooling infrastructures using seawater, with negligent WUEs.

Creating a natural redundancy and giving strength to the Atlantic Hub, the unrepeated high fibre count submarine cable system, Olisipo, will provide Sines the diversity to other digital infrastructures in Portugal, connecting to other cable landings and data centres.

The Atlantic Hub is expected to bring substantial economic benefits to the region as it boosts job creation, stimulates local economic activity, and contributes to the growth of the digital economy. It can also encourage technology companies to establish a presence in the area.

For CEO of Start Campus Afonso Salema, “The Atlantic Hub will enable a huge reduction in risk for new subsea systems as well as a qualitative leap in processes that are generally time-consuming in an industry that needs ever shorter deadlines between the investment decision and the start of operations. It is indeed encouraging to have the collaboration of partner companies such as EllaLink and official organisations such as aicep Global Parque, which give strength to all the projects that are increasingly looking to Sines as the European gateway to the explosion of intercontinental connectivity.”

COO of EllaLink, Diego Matas also adds, “Developing a digital and connectivity Hub is a crucial milestone for the entire EllaLink vision, which started long ago when we first decided to come to Sines and land a cable here! Atlantic Hub and the Olisipo Submarine cable system will boost the country’s interconnectivity, offering new investors something completely innovative for the region and adding critical advantages to Sines as a preferred gateway to and from Europe. EllaLink is firmly committed to the development of such a project.”

For CEO of aicep Global Parques Isabel Caldeira Cardoso, “We are aware of the importance of the Atlantic Hub for Portugal’s attractiveness in the digital sector. International connectivity is increasingly important and the Sines region, due to its intrinsic characteristics, can be a driving force behind the development of this important vector in the national economy. Simplification in the sense of efficiency and effectiveness is undoubtedly a key factor for developers, the main digital players in the market. Our role is to be an active and dynamic entity in this process, creating greater wealth and sustainable development for our country.”