The Pecém port complex in the Brazilian state of Ceará is reportedly the location of a major data center for Chinese internet technology company ByteDance. As per a report by Bloomberg the project will cost R$ 200 billion (US$ 38.44 billion), with 200 MW of planned capacity, potentially rising to almost 1 GW in the future. Once complete, the data center could become ByteDance’s largest facility outside China.
The company joins a growing throng of Chinese firms looking to put down roots in other parts of the world in a bid to overcome energy bottlenecks, expand their presence by catering to international enterprises, and bypass restrictions on the export of AI hardware imposed by the United States.
The data center will feature 20 halls, and it is expected to be operational by late 2027. There is still a lot of work to be done because as it stands, only the pillars have been erected, with the walls, roofing, and remainder of the shell set to follow. Construction of the data center is being handled by Omnia, which pitched the Ceará location to ByteDance in 2025.
The TikTok owner isn’t the first Chinese company to consider a presence in Brazil. Alibaba Group is said to be considering renting space in a cluster of data centers being built in São Paulo although these plans haven’t been publicly announced yet.
The South American nation has become a very attractive location for international data center operators. The country has invested heavily in clean energy, so much so that 89 percent of its electricity came from low-carbon sources in 2025. This makes Brazil a worthy consideration for operators looking to leverage renewable energy to decarbonize their operations.
Regulations in Brazil are also very welcoming for data centers. Last year Reuters reported that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced an exemption from federal taxes, including PIS, Cofins, IPI, and import duties, on IT-related capital expenditures. To date, there are more than 100 data centers across Brazil.
Combine this with improved access to the global market through subsea cable connections, and Brazil may just become the premier destination not only for Chinese enterprises, but others as well.
Continued investment into the Brazilian data center market could push its value to US$ 8.12 billion by 2031 as demand for AI and cloud services balloons. As outlined by Arizton, retail colocation is expected to dominate the market between now and 2031 but projects such as ByteDance’s latest facility and others from the likes of Microsoft highlight a growing demand for dedicated, self-built facilities.