The inauguration of the first building of the Bilbao-Arasur Data Center Campus has brought Data Processing Centers (DPC) to the forefront, and they will be very important in the coming years. Located in Ribabellosa, it is a construction project promoted by the developer Merlin Properties, and KREAN has been in charge of the project and construction management. The complex will have three buildings with a total capacity of 300 megawatts when fully developed, making it one of the largest in Europe, and will be adapted to the needs of the AI. With the construction of the second building having just begun, EnpresaBIDEA spoke to Juanjo Uriarte, head of Industrial Installations and Data Processing Centers at KREAN, to discuss the peculiarities of a center of these characteristics.

Why are DPCs considered key infrastructures for the territory?

I would say that they are key to the digital transformation of the future society. The presence and proximity of data centers is key for the development of institutions and companies and will involve a lot of work and investment. They will have a great economic impact due to their incorporation into the technological ecosystem. An extraordinary development of technologies is expected in the digital world, in the field of security, energy efficiency, renewable energies...

What are the special features of buildings housing a data center?
Architecturally, DPCs are functional buildings created to house complex industrial facilities, and their design is based on utility and efficiency. However, aesthetics, originality and integration into the environment are important factors for the client, who wants to bring a unique perspective and personality to the complex through this design. This is why our Architecture and Engineering teams are integrated from the early stages of the project, working in a coordinated manner.

What are its particularities from an engineering point of view?

DPCs must operate 24 hours a day. They cannot interrupt their activity. In this sense, from an air conditioning point of view, it is essential to maintain the right temperature in a stable and uninterrupted manner, for which advanced cooling systems are used, systems that must be resilient.

They also have highly reliable installations with different levels of redundancy. They must guarantee permanent availability. Due to their high consumption, in addition, the efficiency in the use of energy must be very controlled and very efficient. And they are spaces designed with large dimensions from the point of view of security, regarding the entry of people, etc.

In short, everything is conditioned by the integration of the installations in the building.

Does the electrical part of the data processing center vary the most from one customer to another?

Perhaps the electrical part is the most important part. They are often called mission-critical facilities; they cannot fail. Everything has redundancy requirements to ensure the continuity of the facility. Depending on the redundancy point to be reached, the system will be different and the cost will also vary. 

In addition, they are complex electrical systems with high consumption, and consequently require, among other parameters, the monitoring of the efficiency of energy use, which in turn makes the system more complex.

Ribabellosa is one of the centers you have built. It will make use of renewable energy in order to address sustainability goals. However, a data center like this has an impact on the environment. How do you balance that impact?

I would say that in all these large projects, sustainability is one of the main focus areas for the developers or clients, both because of the public projection of the activity and because of its influence on the operational autonomy of the center. These are facilities with high electricity consumption, for the management of which numerous sustainability measures are incorporated: the use of renewable energies to the greatest extent possible, the optimization of energy use through the implementation of management systems and the conception of the design itself through the use of recycled and recyclable materials. We are currently contemplating the implementation of heat recovery systems that will allow the heat generated in the DPC to be used for other purposes.

What has it meant for KREAN to be in charge of the project and construction management of the Arasur campus?
It has been very important for us to be involved from the beginning of this project. We have collaborated with Arasur since the very birth of the logistics park nearly 20 years ago. We designed the urbanization and its logistics plants. Having the opportunity to now build a Data Center Campus on the same site is a real satisfaction for us insofar as we are co-responsible and involved in the development of a strategic pole for the country.

How many people from KREAN have worked on the design and development of the project?

The number of people involved in the project depends on the phases of the project. While there may be fewer technicians in the basic designs and approaches, throughout the detailed design we can talk about between 15 and 20 people of all specialties, integrating, as we mentioned before, architectural and engineering profiles. Hence the relevance of having a plural team, with professionals from different specialties.

How long on average can it take from the design of a project to the completion of the building?

For the design and contracting, including obtaining all the licenses, we can talk about a period of about one year. If we add two more years for construction, we are talking about 3 years for the project on developed land. If the land requires urban planning procedures for its development, the terms are longer.

KREAN will also be involved in the development of the second building. Where are you at?

The inauguration of the first building coincided with the laying of the foundation stone for the second building. We have completed the design phase, and work on the ground has started this week, and in parallel we have started the design of the third building.

Are there any differences between the three buildings?

Our client is a developer of data centers that respond to the needs of technological and market evolution, and as needs evolve, adaptations or evolutions arise that mark some differences. Although they are similar centers at the technological level, we can see the increase in the requirements derived from the installation of artificial intelligence servers.

Is there a need to adapt to the impulses that artificial intelligence has taken?

Yes, in the building they are adapted to creative artificial intelligence. They are equipment of increasing density, higher consumption, and everything points to the growth of the projects and the sector itself will go in that line.