After months of discussions with potential hyperscalers, Greece’s Public Power Corporation (PPC or DEI) signed a binding memorandum of understanding with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for a planned data center in Western Macedonia.
This project was first announced in May 2025, as part of PPC’s wider EUR 5.8 billion investment in Greece’s main coal region. Gradually, lignite plants, mines and other infrastructure will be removed and replaced with solar farms, batteries, pumped storage hydropower plants and this data center.
For instance, three photovoltaic clusters totaling 930 MW have recently been commissioned within a joint venture with German RWE.
PPC Group’s strategy aligns with the government’s overall just transition efforts, to transform the local economy and replace lost jobs.
Under the deal with Amazon, the power utility will provide the site, buildings and supporting energy infrastructure for the data center, while AWS will install and operate the IT infrastructure. Projected cost for each side is estimated at close to EUR 1 billion.
PPC stands ready to commence construction soon, as it has already contacted potential equipment suppliers. The goal is to complete the project by 2028.
New renewables investments to provide power
The data center’s initial capacity is seen at 300 MW, with an option to upgrade to 1 GW in the future. PPC and Amazon will sign power purchase agreements (PPAs) for the sale of renewable electricity from various local sources.
The Greek utility aims to install 2.1 GW of solar, two pumped storage hydropower plants – 320 MW and 240 MW – as well as battery storage totaling 300 MW in Western Macedonia. A part of their output will supply the data center exclusively, behind the meter. This means that the facility will not use electricity from the wider national network and will not raise prices for other consumers.
Separately, the two companies intend to explore a multi-year cloud and artificial intelligence collaboration to support PPC’s digital transformation.
First step for PPC’s expansion
PPC has been vocal about its ambitions when it comes to data centers and AI. It considers this technology as crucial for its development and aims to use this first large data center as a stepping stone for even more projects in the wider Balkan region.
Therefore, the terms of the deal with Amazon serve as an indication for similar investments that could follow.
The geopolitical dimension
Amazon’s choice to invest in Greece makes sense if examined under a more global lens. The war in the Middle East led to attacks against data centers in places like the United Arab Emirates. Amazon lost some of its own infrastructure in the region and last week it said that it suffered data loss as a result.
Therefore, the American group is expected to shift its investment to safer destinations and Greece provides such a solution.
