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Thirsty data centres boom in drought-hit Mexico
Thirsty data centres boom in drought-hit Mexico
Author, Suzanne Bearne
Role, Technology Reporter
Reporting from
Querétaro, Mexico
29 August 2025
The stone arches of Querétaro's aqueduct run into the distance next to a road
Querétaro is known for its impressive stone aqueduct
IMAGE SOURCE, ARTERRA/GETTY IMAGES
Located in the middle of Mexico, Querétaro is a charming and colourful colonial-style city known for its dazzling stone aqueduct. … But the city, and state of the same name, is also recognised for a very different reason - as Mexico's data centre capital.
Across the state companies including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and ODATA own these warehouse-like buildings, full of computer servers. … No one could supply an exact number, but there are scores of them, with more being built.
Ascenty, which claims to be the largest data centre company in Latin America, has two in Querétaro, both around 20,000 sq ft in size, with a third under construction. … It is forecast that more than $10bn (£7.4bn) in data centre-related investment will pour into the state in the next decade.
"The demand for AI is accelerating the construction of data centres at an unprecedented speed," says Shaolei Ren, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California Riverside.
{snip}
Author, Suzanne Bearne
Role, Technology Reporter
Reporting from
Querétaro, Mexico
29 August 2025
The stone arches of Querétaro's aqueduct run into the distance next to a road
Querétaro is known for its impressive stone aqueduct
IMAGE SOURCE, ARTERRA/GETTY IMAGES
Located in the middle of Mexico, Querétaro is a charming and colourful colonial-style city known for its dazzling stone aqueduct. … But the city, and state of the same name, is also recognised for a very different reason - as Mexico's data centre capital.
Across the state companies including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services and ODATA own these warehouse-like buildings, full of computer servers. … No one could supply an exact number, but there are scores of them, with more being built.
Ascenty, which claims to be the largest data centre company in Latin America, has two in Querétaro, both around 20,000 sq ft in size, with a third under construction. … It is forecast that more than $10bn (£7.4bn) in data centre-related investment will pour into the state in the next decade.
"The demand for AI is accelerating the construction of data centres at an unprecedented speed," says Shaolei Ren, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California Riverside.
{snip}