Nabiax has tied its project financing to sustainability goals.
The Spanish & Latin American data center firm has converted €320 million ($379.5m) in financing into a sustainable format.
With BBVA as the sustainable coordinating bank and Valora as the project’s sustainability consultant, the financing’s price mechanism is linked to three ESG indicators; two environmental goals related to greenhouse gases and water treatment, while the third is social and connected to gender equality targets.
The defined indicators include the percentage of renewable electricity, water consumption (m3 per MW), and a target for hiring more women in the workplace.
If the company meets the levels established for these indicators, Nabiax will receive an improvement in its financing price. If it fails to achieve the set goals, it will be penalized.
“Nabiax's commitment to sustainability is maximum and for this project we have chosen priority objectives for the company such as renewable supply and efficient water consumption in our data centers, as well as the promotion of gender equality among our team of professionals,” said Iván Paja, CFO of Nabiax.
Nabiax was formed by Asterion Industrial Partners in 2019 after it bought 11 data centers from Telefónica for €550 million ($616 million). The deal totaled 29MW across seven countries: two each in Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and Peru, with additional individual sites in Chile, Mexico, and the US. Nabiax was then created to offer colocation and hosting services across Spain and Latin America.
The company is in the process of acquiring four more facilities in Spain and Chile from the telco, and is planning expansion projects at four of its facilities.
Last year Texas-based wholesale firm Aligned became the first data center company to receive a sustainability-linked loan (SLL); raising $1 billion for both sustainability initiatives and general expansion with the interest rate tied to sustainability goals. The company added a further $250 million to the loan last month after hitting its previous targets.
