Submer Plans €1 Billion AI Data Center on Former Chemical Plant Site in Catalonia

Submer, a company best known for its immersion cooling technology, has announced plans to build a €1 billion ($1.14 billion) AI data center on the site of a former chemical plant in Flix, Catalonia, Spain. The project marks a significant step in the firm’s recent diversification into data center development and AI infrastructure.

The facility will be developed and operated by Rubix Data Centers, Submer’s newly established AI data center division. Rather than offering colocation services, Rubix intends to secure a single tenant to run large-scale AI workloads at the site. The project was unveiled on July 11 at an event attended by Salvador Illa, president of the government of Catalonia, and Miquel Sàmper, the regional minister of business and labor.

Submer has not disclosed the planned capacity or specific construction timeline for the data center, but confirmed that it will be built in two phases. Renders of the project suggest four data halls arranged around a central building. The site itself is the former location of the Ercros chemical plant, which ceased industrial operations in January 2023. The chemical firm now operates a solar farm on a portion of the property.

Patrick Smets, CEO of Submer, framed the project as part of a broader effort to revitalize the region. “As a European company, Submer Group is proud to be part of the reindustrialization of Flix, and the positioning of Spain as a leader in AI infrastructure development,” he said. “The Flix site has notable industrial heritage, and it is where our vision for AI infrastructure can start to take shape. As demand accelerates, we will expand across the full stack, from land and power to cloud and Edge, and we are building where it creates the most lasting value. Returning this site to productive use, with durable infrastructure and long-term local partnerships, is exactly the kind of initiative we want to be known for.”

Submer launched the Rubix division in June, as part of a broader push beyond its core immersion cooling business. The Barcelona-based company also introduced an AI cloud platform called InferX last year. Rubix is led by John Eland, a former executive at Stack Infrastructure. He emphasized the company’s long-term commitment to the location. “We intend to operate the facility we are building here, so we are not simply passing through Flix. Instead, we are committing to Flix for the long term, working alongside the local community and the administration, and creating skilled local jobs as the site returns to productive use,” Eland said.

Rubix claims to have access to 8GW of power across vacant sites in the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions. The Flix project is its first publicly announced development, and signals Submer’s ambition to become a full-stack AI infrastructure provider, from cooling technology to data center ownership and operation.