Polish company Green Capital develops overseas AI hub where energy is abundant

Green Capital is a Polish renewable energy project developer and independent power producer (IPP) operating since 2015. The company develops solar, wind and energy storage projects, managing the full investment lifecycle—from land acquisition and permitting to construction and asset operation. Its renewable energy project pipeline in Poland exceeds 13 GW, and the company is also active in international markets.

Green Capital is currently focusing on the Atlas GigaHub.1 project in Argentina's Patagonia region. The initiative involves the construction of a large-scale AI infrastructure campus. It is designed to combine a data center with a target capacity of around 3 GW with nearly 10 GW of dedicated renewable energy generation capacity and energy storage systems. The project is being developed under a "power-to-data" model, in which computing infrastructure is built around access to energy resources.

Atlas GigaHub.1 remains in the early development phase. The company is conducting energy assessments and environmental studies, validating technical assumptions, and preparing the project's financing and partnership structure.

Why Patagonia? Green Capital: energy resources are the key

The aim of the project is to create a data center campus powered by competitively priced renewable electricity. The services provided by the campus would be targeted at European and US markets, meaning that the project's geographic location is less important than access to the right energy resources.

According to Michał Polanowski, CEO of Green Capital, the project reflects a broader global trend. Data centers are increasingly being built where large volumes of affordable energy are available, rather than necessarily close to end users. Patagonia offers vast renewable energy potential, allowing the project to scale without the constraints imposed by local power infrastructure. Crucially, the investment will not compete with local energy consumers, as it will rely on its own dedicated power supply.

Manager's perspective

AI infrastructure requires energy at scale

Growing demand for computing power is placing increasing strain on existing electricity systems. In many established data center hubs, operators are facing competition for energy access, lengthy grid connection timelines, and administrative procedures that are not designed for projects measured in hundreds of megawatts or several gigawatts.
At this scale, energy supply, data centers, storage, cooling and connectivity cannot be treated as separate components. They must be planned as an integrated system. Atlas GigaHub.1 points to a possible direction for some of the largest AI infrastructure projects: locating them closer to major renewable energy resources, with dedicated power infrastructure and greater independence from overstretched grids.

Marta Złotkowska

Director of international development and investments at Green Capital

Growing demand for computing power

According to Green Capital's estimates, the cost of electricity at Atlas GigaHub.1 will be around 30% of current European levels. The company also sees another advantage: the ability to maintain predictable energy prices for roughly 30 years. In Europe, electricity costs remain heavily influenced by fossil fuel prices, transmission fees, and changing regulations and taxes.

Michał Polanowski says the growing importance of projects such as Atlas GigaHub.1 is driven primarily by the rapid increase in demand for computing power.

"The world's largest cloud and artificial intelligence service providers—the so-called hyperscalers—plan to spend around $600bn a year on data center investments. Demand is growing exponentially, and in many regions of the world there is already limited capacity to connect new facilities to the power grid. At the same time, energy prices are rising, while grid operators and public authorities are increasingly restricting the development of additional projects. Meanwhile, the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence and new applications requiring enormous computing capacity—from training AI models to drug discovery and advanced graphics applications—is driving further growth in demand for both data centers and electricity," the Green Capital CEO said.

Green Capital seeks partners for the project

Green Capital says it has already secured the first administrative approvals for the project and received support from the EU's Global Gateway initiative, which promotes European investment in emerging markets.

"We are currently conducting environmental studies, selecting technologies and negotiating with suppliers of key infrastructure components. We expect to complete the entire permitting process by the end of next year," Michał Polanowski said.

The project is highly capital-intensive, which means it will be developed in phases.

"We are currently focused on selecting equipment suppliers, as waiting times for many energy infrastructure components are now very long. Only once this stage is complete will we begin selecting financial partners and buyers of computing capacity. Long-term customer contracts will provide the foundation for securing financing. In Argentina, we have a product manager and work with local companies. We are also supported by the Polish Investment and Trade Agency and the Polish embassy in Buenos Aires. At the end of July, we have scheduled meetings with provincial authorities and technology partners. We want to sign the first key agreements during those meetings," Polanowski added.

Expert’s perspective

Access to energy is reshaping the data center map

The growth of artificial intelligence is changing the hierarchy of criteria used to select data center locations. For infrastructure dedicated to training AI models, the most important factor today is access to very large amounts of power, followed by energy costs, supply reliability and low-carbon sources. The physical facility itself can be built relatively quickly, but expanding generation capacity, transmission networks and grid connections can take many years. As a result, some AI infrastructure may be developed far from major markets if a location can provide sufficient power at scale.

The picture is different for everyday cloud and AI applications, where proximity to users, network performance, data security and low latency remain crucial factors enabling smooth operation and rapid model inference.

At the same time, the scale of investments is changing. The market is moving away from individual facilities—once measured primarily in square meters—towards integrated campuses designed in hundreds of megawatts and, in the largest cases, gigawatt-scale capacity. This shift reflects the rising power density of AI servers and the need to provide power infrastructure, cooling systems, energy storage, connectivity and future expansion capacity simultaneously. Data centers are increasingly becoming long-term energy-digital ecosystems capable of serving global demand.

A similar trend is emerging in Europe. Poland's Choczewo is one example, where digital infrastructure development could be combined with the expansion of the energy system. The developer behind a planned hyperscale campus has announced that it has secured grid connection conditions for up to 3.2 GW of capacity. Power is expected to come from a new 400 kV high-voltage substation connected to generation capacity from offshore wind farms, while a nuclear power plant is also expected to join the system nearby in the coming years.
This illustrates that today's computing hubs are being built primarily in locations where large-scale computing capacity, energy sources and transmission infrastructure can be developed together. For Poland, this creates an opportunity to participate in the global AI market—not because it already offers the lowest energy prices, but because it can provide sufficient power at scale, new low-carbon generation sources, land for future expansion and proximity to European customers.

Krystian Pypłacz

Data center market expert at the Polish Data Center Association (PLDCA)

PAIH supports Green Capital in Argentina

The project being developed by Green Capital in Argentina is receiving support from the Polish Investment and Trade Agency (PAIH).

"Since 2022, PAIH's Foreign Trade Office in Buenos Aires has been helping the company establish institutional contacts and organize meetings with government officials and business partners. It has also helped secure legal and operational support. PAIH supported the company both during the implementation of its original green hydrogen project and, after the concept was revised, during the transition towards developing a global data center," said Maciej Srebro, director of PAIH's Export Support Department.

He added that, according to information provided by Green Capital, the project now involves developing its own infrastructure for producing clean energy. The company has already secured land-use agreements covering 130,000 hectares in Chubut province and 230,000 hectares in Santa Cruz province.

"The Agency is currently coordinating activities related to the project's implementation, working with Argentine institutions and strategic partners, and helping organize the project's launch event," Srebro said.

He added that an event marking the project's inauguration will take place on July 30, 2026, at the Polish Embassy in Buenos Aires.

Patagonia as a base for global AI services

Michał Polanowski says Argentina is currently highly open to foreign investment. The country's RIGI program (Régimen de Incentivo para Grandes Inversiones) provides investors with regulatory stability for 30 years. During that period, it also offers exemptions from import duties on components, significantly improving the economics of planned projects. Javier Milei's government is actively supporting the development of artificial intelligence, making the country an increasingly attractive destination for large-scale technology investments.

"From the outset, our project has been designed for the global market. We are not competing with local investments in Argentina, but rather in the global market for computing capacity. And there, demand is growing faster than available infrastructure," said Michał Polanowski.

Energy transition drives investment

Green Capital is currently focused on two main strategic areas. Atlas GigaHub.1 is one of them. The company's core business remains the development of an independent power producer (IPP) platform in Central and Eastern Europe. Under this model, Green Capital develops projects from the greenfield stage through the entire permitting process, construction and subsequent asset management. Its most advanced operations are in Poland, but the company is also seeking to expand projects in Romania, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Ukraine.

The company is currently placing particular emphasis on energy storage, which is becoming an essential component of the energy transition and a key tool for stabilizing power systems.

"Green Capital is currently implementing its first portfolio of energy storage projects, with a combined capacity of 414 MW and around 1,600 MWh of storage capacity. The plan is scheduled over two years. It includes two major joint venture projects with the Prime Capital fund. Both have won capacity market auctions and will provide services to the grid operator. The first is expected to be connected to the grid next year, while we are securing debt financing for the second. The combined value of the two investments is around PLN 850m," Michał Polanowski said.

Poland's market is currently among the most attractive in Europe for energy investment.

"This is primarily due to the need for a fundamental transformation of the country's energy system. Poland is not only expanding renewable generation capacity but will also gradually retire its ageing coal-fired power plants, creating enormous investment needs. Foreign investors view the market as mature, predictable and more comparable to Western European countries than to other markets in Central and Eastern Europe," Polanowski said.

Key takeaways

1. Access to energy is becoming one of the key drivers of AI infrastructure development. For large data centers designed, among other purposes, to train artificial intelligence models, the ability to secure large-scale, stable and competitively priced power is becoming more important than simply being located close to end users. Atlas GigaHub.1 is based on the premise that computing infrastructure can be built where the necessary energy resources are available, while the services it provides can be delivered to distant markets.
2. AI data centers are being designed as integrated energy-digital systems. The growing demand for computing capacity means that power supply, storage, cooling, connectivity and future expansion capacity must be planned together. Atlas GigaHub.1 aims to combine a data center with a target capacity of around 3 GW with nearly 10 GW of renewable energy infrastructure and energy storage systems, highlighting the scale and complexity of such projects.
3. Project execution will depend on further preparatory work and securing partners. Atlas GigaHub.1 remains at an early stage of development. Green Capital is conducting environmental and technology assessments while preparing the permitting process and seeking financial partners and future buyers of computing capacity. The project will be developed in phases, with long-term customer contracts expected to form the foundation for securing financing.