The 50 billion reais project will be carried out in Caucaia and likely host TikTok
Brazilian investment company Patria Investments is potentially backing the upcoming data center project from renewable energy company Casa dos Ventos, in the northeast of Brazil, in the state of Ceará.
Casa dos Ventos reportedly expects to begin construction on the project in H2 of this year, with operations slated for January 2027. The facility is apparently set to house the Chinese company ByteDance, owner of TikTok - although a definitive contract has not yet been signed.
According to information reported by the website BNamericas, Patria will develop the project on behalf of the energy firm.
Patria Investimentos, a former owner of OData, recently launched Omnia, a hyperscale data center platform aimed at meeting the growing demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Designed to meet the needs of Tier-1 hyperscale, Omnia will develop, build, and operate large-scale, custom-built data centers across Latin America, fully powered by green and renewable energy, and aligned with high sustainability standards.
According to BNamericas, Casa dos Ventos is reportedly in talks with potential partners to make the project viable. Patria Investimentos has declined to comment.
The project would reportedly have an initial budget of 50 billion reais ($9.1m) and would be carried out in the municipality of Caucaia, within the industrial complex of Pecém, and would reach 288MW of power in its first building, which would begin to be built from the second half of 2025.
The approvals granted by Brazil's Ministry of Mines and Energy and electricity regulator Aneel came after an initial rejection. The approvals were finally granted between the end of 2024 and the first months of 2025, although final approvals depend on the implementation of structural improvements to avoid overloading the transmission system.
Casa dos Ventos and Patria Investimentos
TotalEnergies took a 34 percent stake in Casa dos Ventos in 2022. Such a deal would have included an earn-out clause, a pricing mechanism in mergers and acquisitions where part of the purchase price depends on the future performance of the business.
Casa dos Ventos had unused wind power in the region and was looking to demonstrate the value of its energy complex to TotalEnergies, leading the company to view data centers as a strategic opportunity.
Companies in Brazil and other Latin American countries reportedly evaluated the project, but in the end, Patria Investments was chosen as a partner in the project, with the investment firm able to bring capital and development experience.
Just a few weeks ago, the Brazilian government created a plan to attract data centers to the country, exempting investments in related technologies from federal taxes. Precisely, these companies will benefit from tax exemptions in the export processing zones - EPZs.
BNamericas reports that this decision would bring this project into account, as the Pecém project is both an industrial center and an EPZ. The new rules allow data centers dedicated to global workloads, such as artificial intelligence training, to access these tax benefits. According to sources, both the Ceará government and Casa dos Ventos lobbied hard for this inclusion to be approved.
BNamericas reviewed documents on the future data center complex in Ceará, which detail progressive energy use and design changes, especially after an initial rejection by Aneel.
The project envisages two data centers: DC Pecém I and DC Pecém II, with a total approved capacity of 288MW by 2034. Pecém I, which is being developed by Pátria, will start operating with a demand of 36MW in December 2027. This figure will increase year-on-year to reach 288MW in 2034.
