Amazon Web Services (AWS) has obtained approval for a second data center in Santiago, Chile.
First reported by BNAmericas, the tech giant has received approval from the environmental review agency (SEA) for its Huechuraba data center project. Huechuraba is a suburb in the north of the Chilean capital.
AWS received approval for its first Chile facility, also in Santiago, in January this year.
Both data centers will see AWS invest $205 million into each project.
The new Huerchuraba data center project includes two buildings built on a 10.9-hectare site. According to SEA documents, the first building will offer 8,000 sqm (86,100 sq ft) of data center space, and the second will offer 10,400 sqm (112,000 sq ft) across two floors.
The buildings will also comprise offices, low-water consumption air conditioning and cooling systems, fire control systems, and 23 emergency electrical generators.
The first phase of construction will be for the first half of the first building, the infrastructure, and the campus exterior. This is expected to be completed by February 2026.
The second stage will see the construction of the second half of the building, and the third phase will see the construction of the second building.
The capacity of the data center has not been disclosed.
AWS also filed for a third facility in the Puente Alto commune of Santiago, but this was rejected by the SEA in 2023.
AWS first considered investment in Chile in 2017 and launched a Local Zone in Santiago back in 2023.
Currently, Santiago is home to operators such as Equinix, GTD, EdgeConneX, Google, Scala, Aligned, and Databyte.
Google had also filed to build a second, $200 million data center, in Cerrillos, Santiago, however, this decision was reversed in February 2024 over water concerns.
A recent report from CBRE said rental rates in Santiago have reached $500 per kW per month.