Ground has broken on the first of four planned Tier IV LEED certified data centers to be operated by Curaçao Technology Exchange N.V (CTEX) on the Caribbean island of Curaçao.

The firm’s ‘CU-1’ is a 5,200 sq mt (52,000 square feet) high-density data center built on top of a mountain terrace 60 meters above sea level.

Schneider Electric and Cisco are among those firms involved in the construction of the Tier-IV design, LEED certified data center.

The facility will be connected via six existing submarine fiber systems. International carriers are planning to make the facility a major carrier interconnection point for the Caribbean, Latin America and Europe, the developer said.

One attraction is the island’s tax regime which include zero import duties on equipment and a 2% profit tax regime for international companies seeking to establish an operating entity on the island

“The data center we are building in Curaçao has no comparison anywhere locally or in the region. The level of security, ability to withstand hurricanes and seismic activity, redundancy, connectivity, carrier neutrality and richness of services simply does not exist today,” said Anthony de Lima, the company’s Chairman and CEO.

Milton Silva, Schneider Electric’s Director of Central America, Caribbean and Miami, said: "We have worked side by side with the CTEX team to find solutions that provide the best potential of reducing the impact on the environment and the most sophisticated design. We are thrilled as this is one of the most ambitious projects that we’ve participated in."

“CTEX is creating a new economic mainstay for Curaçao. We are glad to be one of the biggest sponsors of the project. We saw the potential from day one, and were determined to make this project come to fruition,” said Eric Garcia Girobank N.V.’s CEO, one of the key financial institutions backing the project.

Curaçao Minister Charles Cooper said, “Curaçao has all the necessary ingredients to once again become a major hub for commerce in the region. This time, we will do it the high-tech way. This site will serve as the breeding ground for a new league of entrepreneurs, new types of businesses and a place where global companies can come and have the peace of mind that they can leverage a truly world-class facility and conduct business in a safe and secure manner. The facility will be purposely built to be a super high-density data center. We will open our arms to those with qualified skills who want to come to Curaçao and lend a helping hand in building our newest economic pillar.”

CTEX’s first colocation data center will become operational in the first half of 2013. The firm is offering cloud computing infrastructure, managed hosting, disaster recovery and storage and archive services.