Renewables developer Voltalia is in talks with private equity giant Brookfield and Chinese technology group ByteDance to develop large-scale data centre parks in Brazil, as global demand for AI computing drives a surge in infrastructure investment, according to Bloomberg.

People familiar with the matter said the projects would be located at the Pecém industrial port in Ceará and could reach up to one gigawatt of capacity. Voltalia plans to supply the facilities with electricity from its renewable energy pipeline in northeastern Brazil. Final agreements will depend on the approval of new tax incentives for export-oriented developments at the site.

Voltalia has also made early approaches to US hyperscalers including Alphabet and Meta as it seeks partners capable of funding the vast computing infrastructure required. A one gigawatt advanced data centre can cost more than $30bn, while a 1.5GW project in Rio de Janeiro is expected to cost around $50bn.

Brazil has emerged as Latin America’s strongest contender in the global AI data centre race thanks to abundant renewable energy, an interconnected grid, and extensive subsea cable connections at Fortaleza. Nearly half of all planned and existing South American data centres are in Brazil.

ByteDance said it is in advanced negotiations with local partners for a separate project at Pecém. Casa dos Ventos is reportedly planning a 300MW facility with ByteDance worth 50bn reais ($9.4bn), although no agreement has been finalised. Brookfield declined to comment.

The Brazilian government recently approved tax breaks for five projects at Pecém, estimating more than 450bn reais of investment over the next decade, including upwards of 100bn reais for a planned ByteDance data centre. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva met TikTok executives in New York to discuss the initiative.

The growing presence of Chinese technology investors comes as geopolitical tensions have made some US firms more cautious about backing large Brazilian projects, creating space for alternative capital providers, including global private equity funds.

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