A new data center for the Portuguese national supercomputing center is being built.

The contract to build the new data center for the National Center for Advanced Computing (RNCA), located on the Azurém campus of the University of Minho in Guimarães, has been awarded to the DST group.

DST beat off competition from other companies, including Rare Concept, Alexandre Barbosa Borges, and Climacer. The project has an estimated value of €5 million ($5.8m) and will be financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), within the scope of the "Ciência Mais Digital" investment.

According to the newspaper O Minho, the work is scheduled to take 334 days to finish, with completion estimated for 2026.

As described in the project's explanatory memorandum, the building will be located near Rua de Francos and will function as a data center for services without permanent staff presence.

The total area planned is 500 sqm (5,380 sq ft), intended for the installation of computer racks, with an average density of 0.3 racks per square meter.

According to the document, the structure will consist of reinforced concrete elements, slabs with resilient layers, and external walls in prefabricated panels, with the aim of minimizing noise propagation.

Solutions such as false ceilings with sound-absorbing properties, self-supporting cladding with rock wool, and ventilation grilles with sound attenuation capacity were planned to meet the ambient noise limits.

As part of the RNCA, the University of Minho hosts the Deucalion supercomputer.