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Breaking News: Exclusive Interview With Rob Dunn, Newly Appointed CEO of Start Campus
Congratulations on your confirmed appointment as Chief Executive Officer of Start Campus following your interim appointment to this position in November. What excites you most about taking on this leadership role, especially at such a pivotal moment in the company’s growth? Thank you, it’s really exciting. The current landscape for data centers is incredibly promising, especially those that are sized and designed to accompany the tech industry’s rapid evolution. We are seeing an unprecedented surge in demand for capacity. It’s great to be at the forefront of
You’ve been with Start Campus since 2022 and have played a key role in the development of the SINES DC project. How has your previous experience prepared you for this new position, and what aspects of your background do you hope to leverage most in your role as CEO? Project development is always complex, but within that you need to be able to see through the issues and understand that each element is critical to the final product. Being principled as well as flexible in that process is paramount, especially in these times of seismic industry change. The team is everything: everyone
What differentiates the SINES DC project from other developments of this size? Location, first and foremost. Portugal benefits from world-leading connectivity, as the only country in the world connected to all inhabited continents by submarine cables – it also benefits from a robust terrestrial network. Sines is being established as a connectivity hub, strengthening redundancy and resiliency for international connectivity. It also benefits from strong existing Our ocean water cooling solution and our flexibility means we can cater to all the segments like no other DC is currently able to – by harnessing the power of the ocean, we are able to offer to our customers industry-leading WUE and PUE. Our flexible and scalable design allows
Start Campus is committed to delivering sustainable data center ecosystems. What can you share about the location in Sines, Portugal, and how the location helps you meet the company’s sustainability goals? We are able to meet our own commitments to sustainability and support those of our clients by building data centers which use less power through advanced engineering, zero-consumption ocean water cooling systems and by drawing energy from renewable sources. Water consumption is increasingly becoming an issue in the DC industry, and is comparatively overlooked compared to power consumption. Our location on the coast at Sines means that we are able to utilise a system that draws water from the ocean to cool the DC, then returns the same volumes back to the ocean. What this means is that we use, but do not consume, water in the process, and critically we do not use potable or industrial water for cooling. And an extra benefit of the site is that we are able to repurpose existing infrastructure from a neighbouring coal-fired power station which is no longer in operation. It all contributes to the circular economy.
What shifts in the market are you expecting to see in the future and what is Start Campus doing now to prepare? Environmental impact is obviously at the forefront of many customers’ minds, and minimising our footprint in this is at the core of everything we do. We’ve already heard of customers looking to shift demand for sustainability reasons, meaning some hyperscaler customers will only use DCs when they can operate on renewable power. Increasing But flexibility is probably the underlying trend. As new technological developments arrive, being able to accommodate them is key. Our company’s advanced offer is AI-ready and addresses the future needs of the industry by integrating liquid cooling technologies into its flexible and scalable design. This next-generation data center is engineered to host HPC/AI applications and offer lower-cost, high-efficiency alternatives to traditional data centers.
The project’s first phase is nearing completion and SINES DC is set to become one of Europe’s largest and most sustainable data ecosystems. What role do you see this project playing in Start Campus’ overall strategy, and how do you plan to ensure its continued success? We will begin operations this year with phase 1 of SIN01, with 14MW of initial capacity This is just the start though. In Sines we plan to deliver at least 495MW of capacity. We are learning every
What can we expect from you and the company in the coming years? Anything beyond Sines? For sure! Being a responsible, smart and committed operator is part of our DNA, and we want to be the partner of choice for customers who value sustainable performance and reliable innovation. We’re ambitious and SINES DC is the first of our projects; our ambition is to build a multi-geography platform globally, with the same values at its core. As a business we are uniquely equipped to identify the right opportunities and to execute on our plans. All our legacy experience coupled
Can you tell us more about the team behind the project? I am fortunate to lead an exceptionally talented and carefully assembled team of 50 professionals. Most of the team is bringing significant experience from the data center industry, honed at leading names in the space, including Google, META, AWS, Intel, etc. – they are bringing invaluable insights and expertise to the SINES DC Project. Our company thrives on the values of teamwork, collaboration, and the
SINES DC will create up to 9,000 direct and indirect jobs – can you tell us more about the supply chain your activities are creating? Our project is creating a multitude of job opportunities, both directly and indirectly. In addition to our own employees, we are supported by approximately 60 consulting firms and contractors and leverage their expertise to deliver a project of this size and scale. Some of these companies are industry-leading international companies with a long-standing presence in Portugal, others are established local companies. On any given day, we have I am incredibly proud of the partnerships we’ve built with these leading firms: they are a cornerstone of our project’s success. Together, we are building a new, sustainable and highly efficient supply chain in Portugal. This collaboration not only brings global best practices into our project, but also supports the local economy by providing employment opportunities and fosters the development of new skills for the industry.
Finally, what message would you like to share with Start Campus’ employees, partners, and stakeholders as you embark on this new chapter as CEO? SINES DC is a project that is much more than just a modern or new data center; it takes a totally fresh look at how to best design critical infrastructure that will impact millions of lives for the good, help economies change gears, and provide new jobs. Everyone involved in the SINES DC ecosystem needs to know that they matter, that they are part of a vision for the future, and they have to dare to imagine and push the boundaries of The strength of the project and the company lies in the conviction of doing the right thing. It may be hard sometimes, but the outcome is what we need to focus on, and we have to be demanding on ourselves to deliver that. That means listening, thinking and doing. I look forward to this next phase of Start Campus and am proud to be doing so alongside all the people involved.
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