Seven months after the Administration of Castile-La Mancha granted the Positive Environmental Impact Statement for the future Data Center that the company Meta will build in Talavera de la Reina, its final approval as a Project of Interest arrives Singular (PSI). This means that Zarza Networks, Mark Zuckerberg’s parent company which integrates Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram and Threads, can now run the project. It is delayed since the start of work was planned for the end of last year, but certain administrative procedures have slowed down the project.
Sources from the government of Castile-La Mancha have advanced elDiarioclm.es that the Autonomous Government Council held today (a day earlier than expected because this Tuesday and Wednesday the debate on the state of the region will take place) gave the definitive green light to the PSI. This figure applies to projects of particular interest to the region. For example, the Puy du Fou theme park in Toledo has them.
The PSI aims to develop a Campus Data Center within the industrial land of the Torrehierro Industrial Zone, in Talavera de la Reina, to house the company’s operations and IT equipment used for digital production, processing and storage data that allows you to provide service via your applications.
The investment provides for its development on a discontinuous plot of 102 hectares, with an investment estimated at 750 million euros, of which 685 million euros are allocated to the construction of the Data Center. The estimated duration of the work is ten years, starting twelve months following the conclusion of the administrative procedures and the necessary approvals.
The location ultimately chosen is based on various “environmental benefits”. Among them, it will be located on a “sufficiently high” surface and in a “strategic” location, since it is located on the axis that connects Madrid and Lisbon, at the foot of the A-5 motorway. The environmental document states that existing water infrastructure “has sufficient capacity to provide the necessary drinking water.”
The expected reduction in water consumption
Even if the environmental declaration of the future Data Center was positive, it included a series of corrective measures, already envisaged by the promoter in its previous environmental study. In fact, she corrected her original plan to include reducing water consumption by up to six times the planned amount. However, 8% of the watercourses allocated to Talavera de la Reina will be taken.
The text of the environmental impact statement confirms that of the 511,500 cubic meters per year ultimately requested by the Data Center (504,500 m3 of drinking water and 7,000 m3 of groundwater), the project will have a maximum consumption of 40,600 m3 per year (600 m3 of groundwater). m3 per year of industrial water and 40,000 m3 per year of drinking water).
The rest of the water demand (470,900 m3 annually, including 7,000 m3 of water table) was estimated from the allocations allocated to the four development plots, the mixed tertiary use plot, the public highway and the river park.
Thus, the assessment of the impact on water consumption is considered “compatible” and the measures that have been adopted since the design of the PSI to reduce its water demand allow us to conclude that “an adequate assessment of this impact was carried out by the promoter.
This document also specifies that the implementation of the project does not involve direct or indirect effects on the conservation objectives established in the management plan for neighboring Natura 2000 red spaces, despite the proximity of the power line to its limits in particular , “always that the environmental measures integrated into its design are carried out. Concretely, the regional government then explained that after modifying the position of the supports of the power lines and their longitudinal elevation, the risk of bird collision is reduced “by significantly”.
Although the site is included in the areas of importance for the imperial eagle and the black vulture, the management plans developed for the two species “do not indicate the incompatibility of the proposal with appropriate management measures”. It was also stated in the environmental impact document that the site is included in an area of archaeological potential. “However, the studies carried out have not identified any remains incompatible with the action,” they emphasize.
Likewise, he clarifies that the availability of a highly qualified and professional workforce is also advantageous, since Talavera de la Reina has professional and university ICT programs. Additionally, the city is home to the Regional Digital Innovation Center with an emerging group of important technology players.
