Templus will open CEU01, Ceuta’s first data center, on December 15, located at the autonomous city’s port. The announcement was made by its CEO, Nacho Velilla, during the 4th Economic Forum of Ceuta organized by El Español, as reported by Material Eléctrico. The facility, built from the ground up and carrier-neutral, will start with 0.7 MW of IT power, expandable to 1.2 MW.
Templus’s Ceuta data center in 20 seconds
- CEU01 will go live on December 15 at the port of Ceuta.
- It will have 800 m² of IT floor space, 0.7 MW expandable to 1.2 MW, and racks from 4 to 15 kW.
- Templus is touting a Tier III Ready design, a PUE of 1.2, and zero water consumption.
- The project is arriving later than originally planned, which was before summer 2026.
It will be Ceuta’s first data center and the first one Templus has built from scratch, since the rest of its network has mostly come from acquiring existing facilities. The company is positioning it as a node between Europe and Africa and as a proximity facility for the local administration and businesses in the city.
CEU01 technical specs
According to figures published by Material Eléctrico, CEU01 has 2,500 square meters of built space, of which 800 are dedicated to IT floor space. It will launch with 0.7 MW of IT power, expandable to 1.2 MW, and will support racks of between 4 and 15 kW, a density Templus is positioning as ready for AI and GPU workloads. The company is touting a Tier III Ready design, compliance with Spain’s National Security Framework (ENS) at the high tier, 24×7 on-site security, 100% renewable energy, a PUE (power usage effectiveness) of 1.2, and zero water consumption.
The power figures are more modest than those given when the project was first announced. When construction broke ground in November 2025, Templus was talking about 1.2 MW initially, expandable to 2.4 MW in a second phase, and in September 2025 it set the opening in the second quarter of 2026, before summer. The information published now doesn’t explain the reason for the change in power or the delay.
Ceuta is connected to the mainland by fiber through submarine cables, infrastructure cloudnews.tech has already covered in explaining how undersea cables support connectivity in the Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Ceuta and Melilla.
The power link to the mainland and the call for dedicated rules
The data center’s viability largely depends on the new submarine power link between the mainland and Ceuta, built by Red Eléctrica. The cable, roughly 58 kilometers long under the Strait of Gibraltar with two 132 kV circuits, was connected on August 10, 2026 and starts commercial electricity trading on November 1. Until now, Ceuta had relied on its own power generation, isolated from the mainland grid.
Velilla used the forum to ask that future data center regulation, being prepared by the Ministry for Ecological Transition, take territories like Ceuta into account. “Future regulation for our sector must account for the exceptional nature of a city like Ceuta. A law that only considers mainland Spain cannot be contemplated,” he argued, according to Material Eléctrico. Templus had already asked in September to withdraw Spain’s data center decree and reopen the dialogue.
A year of expansion for Templus
CEU01 adds to a year of rapid growth for Templus. In recent months it has been tapped by SWI Group as part an €800 million capital raise for AI infrastructure in Madrid, bought Grupo Aire’s centers in Lisbon, Madrid and Valencia, taken on AtlasEdge’s nine European facilities, expanded its Barcelona campus to 10 MW, and grown its Málaga center to 3 MW. The company, backed by ICG and Teras Capital, is betting on regional, proximity-focused data centers rather than the large campuses concentrated around Madrid.
Frequently asked questions
When will Templus’s data center in Ceuta open?
Templus expects CEU01 to go live on December 15, 2026, according to its CEO, Nacho Velilla.
What capacity will CEU01 have?
It will have 800 m² of IT floor space and 0.7 MW of IT power, expandable to 1.2 MW, with racks of between 4 and 15 kW.
Why does the power link to the mainland matter?
Because it guarantees Ceuta a stable, renewable-origin power supply from the mainland grid. Red Eléctrica’s link starts commercial trading on November 1, 2026.
Has the project been delayed?
Yes. In 2025, Templus expected to open it in the second quarter of 2026, with 1.2 MW initially. It is now opening on December 15, with 0.7 MW.
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