The data centres in Chile will largely be air-cooled, with water only to be used in the cooling systems for around 4% of the year.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has committed to investing more than $4 billion in developing a cloud region in Chile by the end of 2026. The investment will support the construction, connection, operation, and maintenance of data centres in the country.
At launch, the region will have three availability zones, adding to the company’s existing 114 AZs across 36 global regions. The company said the data centres in Chile will largely be air-cooled, with water only to be used in the cooling systems for around 4% of the year.
“The AWS South America (Chile) Region will help serve the fast-growing demand for cloud services across Latin America and in Chile with secure, reliable, and efficient cloud infrastructure,” said Prasad Kalyanaraman, Vice President of Infrastructure Services at AWS.
“With the new AWS Region, organisations will have the ability to build with advanced AWS technologies, like artificial intelligence and machine learning, to help accelerate growth, productivity, and innovation. By investing in local talent, educational opportunities, and digital skills training, we’re proud to contribute to Chile’s economic growth and digital transformation for years to come.”
Aisén Etcheverry Escudero, Chile’s Minister of Science, Technology, Knowledge and Innovation added: “AWS’s infrastructure expansion in Chile is a clear example of the country’s commitment to advanced technology and innovation, and to the work we’ve done to create an environment where technology companies can thrive, with the National Data Centre Plan leading the way.”
Amazon first entered Chile with a CloudFront Edge location in 2019. The company later launched an AWS Ground Station in Punta Arenas and brought its AWS Outposts offering to the country in 2021.
In 2023, AWS established an AWS Direct Connect location in the country, and launched a Local Zone location in Santiago.
The company has been considering a data centre in Chile since at least 2017, and in January 2024 got the green light for a $205 million data centre project in Santiago. In July of that year, it received approval for a second data centre in the city, also set to see $205m in investment.
AWS is also currently developing Availability Zones and Regions in New Zealand, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, and the AWS European Sovereign Cloud.
