The Invest in Alentejo project of ADRAL – Alentejo Regional Development Agency, in partnership with aicep Global Parques – Management of Business Areas and Services, will promote Sines Tech – Innovation & Data Center Hub at the Submarine Networks EMEA meeting, which will be held September 1-3 in London and will be attended by the 500 most relevant personalities in the global market for submarine telecommunications infrastructures.
This is the first business mission of the Digital axis of the Invest in Alentejo project, which aims to attract investment and strengthen the region’s position in the global market, based on the dissemination and promotion of the areas of the regional strategy for intelligent specialization (EREI), such as equipment and resources existing in the region.
Invest in Alentejo will seek to attract the mooring of submarine telecommunications cables on the Alentejo coast in partnership with the company EllaLink, which recently installed a Cable Mooring Station in Sines. EllaLink is the inaugural customer of the Sines Tech – Innovation & Data Center Hub, launched by aicep Global Parques and the Sines City Council in 2019. It is responsible for the new connection between Europe and South America in transatlantic submarine fiber optic cable, one of the major bets of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union. With an investment of 150 million euros, this cable, which ties in Europe in Sines and in South America in Fortaleza, is the first direct high-speed connection between Europe and South America and will function as a “highway” for data transmission.
After evaluating several possible mooring points in various European countries EllaLink chose ZILS – Sines Industrial and Logistics Zone (managed by aicep Global Parques) because it considered that there are ideal conditions to develop an internet hub, with the mooring of submarine telecommunications cables and the installation of data processing centers. Due to its geographical location in Europe and Atlantic exposure on the one hand and the diverse connection to the hinterland, Lisbon, Madrid and Marseille on the other. Due to the availability of land for scalable projects and high capacity utilities, namely energy intensity, including renewables, and electrical interconnections.
“We are committed to support EllaLink’s visibility in the largest European event dedicated to submarine cable technology because, by choosing to install itself in Sines Tech – Innovation & Data Center Hub, this company brought a new economic era to the Sines region and a new visibility for the Alentejo territory, as an example of excellent conditions to host major international players in the telecommunications sector and the digital economy,” highlights José Calixto, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ADRAL – Alentejo “Sines Tech – Innovation & Data Center Hub at ZILS (Sines Industrial and Logistics Zone) is a new European hub for the safe mooring of submarine telecommunications cables and the installation and expansion of Data Centers. The availability of certified land, high energy intensity and the abundant availability of water for industrial use and seawater intake and rejection infrastructures are global competitive advantages of Sines, Alentejo and the country.” Filipe Costa, CEO aicep Global Parques.