Territori endorses the expansion of the Zona Franca data center

The Environmental Commission has issued a favorable declaration for the expansion of the data center operated by Parc Logístic de la Zona Franca, SA in the Zona Franca industrial estate, within the municipality of Barcelona. The agreement, adopted in the session of July 28, 2026, is made public through Resolution TER/3348/2026, dated September 2, signed by the Director General of Climate Change and Environmental Quality, Sonsoles Letang Jiménez de Anta. The resolution was published in the Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC) no. 9759, of September 28, 2026, with the official reference CVE-DOGC-A-26261066-2026.

The project, processed under file FUE-2024-03943745, is subject to the environmental impact assessment and environmental authorization regime of Annex I.1 of Law 20/2009, of December 4, on the environmental prevention and control of activities, as it exceeds the threshold of 50 MW of thermal combustion power. The action does not foresee new underground fuel tanks and utilizes already authorized facilities, an alternative that the environmental impact study considers the most appropriate from an environmental, functional, and economic point of view.

Energy Expansion: From Six to Thirteen Generator Sets

The core of the project is the modification of the energy infrastructure that guarantees the continuous operation of the data center 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The declaration includes these technical characteristics:

• Increase from six to thirteen diesel fuel generator sets.
• Resulting total electrical power of 108.251 MW.
• Operation restricted to emergency situations, with an estimated annual use of 26 hours.
• Minimum electrical autonomy of 48 hours in the event of a supply interruption.
• Five underground diesel tanks of 69.7 m³ and thirteen above-ground day tanks of 2 m³.
• Generator sets of the brand MTU, model 20V4000 DS4000 of 11 kV.

The building has a constructed area of 24,291.45 m², distributed as 21,347.87 m² of industrial space and 2,943.58 m² of offices, and is located on plot C2, with a maximum constructed area of 53,380 m². The main activity is that of a logistics data center for technology clients: storage, processing, and distribution of computer data on high-end servers.

Emissions and Climate Impact

The environmental impact study quantifies the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the project:

• 6,786.71 t CO2eq in the construction phase.
• 225.025 t CO2eq from fossil fuel consumption (diesel).
• 84.22 t CO2eq from fluorinated gas leaks from cooling equipment.
• Zero emissions from electricity consumption, which comes from renewable sources with a certificate of guarantee of origin.

The global evaluation qualifies the environmental impact of the project as compatible with environmental conservation, while the effect on climate change is considered moderate, given that recovery is not immediate. The declaration does not establish preventive, corrective, or compensatory measures additional to those planned by the holder in the environmental impact study and the Environmental Monitoring Plan.

Procedures, reports, and identified risks

The documentation was open to the public for 30 days through publication in DOGC no. 9668, of May 19, 2026, and no objections were submitted; nor were any registered in the neighborhood information process of the Barcelona City Council, according to the certificate of June 19, 2026. In the procedure, the right to participate was communicated to:

• Entities: Associació en Defensa de la Natura (ADENA), Lliga per a la Defensa del Patrimoni Natural (DEPANA), Ecologistes en Acció, and Greenpeace Spain.
• City Councils: Barcelona, el Prat de Llobregat, and l’Hospitalet de Llobregat.
• Requested reports: Air Surveillance and Control Service (SVCA), Acoustic and Light Pollution Prevention and Control Service (SPCCAL), Catalan Climate Change Office, Cartographic and Geological Institute of Catalonia (ICGC), Public Health Agency, Waste Agency of Catalonia (ARC), Catalan Water Agency (ACA), and the Barcelona Metropolitan Area (AMB).

Regarding vulnerability, the study detects a very high risk of forest fire, although the facilities are surrounded by urban land; an industrial establishment with high chemical risk 1.3 km away, within the alert zone; a radioactive installation 815 meters away, within the 1 km radius; and no risk from electromagnetic fields, as the minimum required distance of 277.1 m is well below the nearest sensitive receptor, at 886.68 m. The nearest area of natural interest is the Llobregat Delta, 3.2 km away, included in the Natura 2000 network.

The decision unlocks critical energy infrastructure for a strategic digitalization facility in Barcelona, and does so with a global environmental impact qualified as compatible and without citizen or institutional objections. The project arrives, however, with a balance of 6,786.71 t CO2eq during construction and a moderate impact on the climate that will accompany the entire operation of the center.

Source: Official Gazette of the Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC), no. 9759, September 28, 2026, ANNOUNCEMENTS section (official reference: CVE-DOGC-A-26261066-2026).