Portugal is positioning itself not only as a user of artificial intelligence technologies but also as a host for the infrastructure that powers them. In the city of Sines, about 150 kilometers south of Lisbon, one of Europe’s largest AI campuses is under construction, with a total investment of €8.6 billion.

The first building is already operational, while five more are planned. Once completed, the campus is expected to deliver up to 1.2 gigawatts of computing capacity and house 12,600 next-generation NVIDIA GPUs. According to the project partners, the entire facility will run on renewable energy.

The project brings together Microsoft, British company Nscale, Portuguese developer Start Campus, and NVIDIA. Microsoft President Brad Smith unveiled the initiative at Web Summit in Lisbon, noting that the investment exceeds the company’s total spending in Spain throughout its history in the country.

The economic impact could be substantial. Industry estimates suggest that by 2030, Portugal’s data center sector could contribute up to €26 billion to the country’s GDP and support around 50,000 jobs, including indirect effects across the broader economy.

For Lisbon residents, the changes are unlikely to be immediately visible. Most of the jobs will be concentrated in Sines and will require highly skilled engineering expertise. However, the project could accelerate educational development, attract international talent, and encourage further investment in solar and wind energy projects across the Alentejo region.

At the same time, questions remain about the environmental impact. Large-scale data centers consume significant amounts of energy and water, and local residents have already begun discussing the project’s potential effects on the region.

Portugal appears to be gradually evolving from a country where international technology companies established local offices into one of the key infrastructure hubs of Europe’s digital economy. The remaining question is how this vision will align with concerns about system resilience, local outages, and the broader challenges of maintaining critical digital infrastructure.