Colombia’s 120-MW Data Center in Tenjo Gets Key Power-Line Approval

A massive new data center project in Colombia's Tenjo town is nearing completion of its power supply infrastructure. The 120-megawatt ODATA Colombia BG03 Navarra-Bacata facility, being built 15 miles from Bogota, secured environmental approval for a 220-kilovolt transmission line that will connect the site to the region's power grid. The power project involves building a 1,037-meter transmission line, along with transmission infrastructure like four towers, two portals and a new substation.

The data center, which will be ODATA's largest facility in the country, is part of a $1.3 billion regional expansion plan to increase IT capacity in the area. The site's design allows for a maximum of 120 megawatts of IT capacity, but the actual power consumption will vary based on the workload. Nvidia and Microsoft are strategic partners with ODATA through the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), MGX and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). However, the company is not directly owned by these entities.

Some local residents have raised concerns about the scale of the development. Juan Romero, president of the La Punta Community Action Board in Tenjo, stated that residents were only recently informed about the project and did not receive sufficient community consultation. Additionally, they are worried about potential peak electricity demand, estimating it to be equivalent to the consumption of nearly 100,000 households.