A 120 MW AI datacenter site in Tenjo, Colombia has received regulatory approval for power-line interconnection infrastructure, clearing the path for facility energization.
Tenjo, a town approximately 24 kilometers northwest of Bogota, has moved a step closer to securing electrical infrastructure for a major data center development. On September 16, Colombia's National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA) granted an environmental license for ODATA Colombia's BG03 Navarra-Bacata 220-kilovolt transmission project. The approved scope includes a 1,037-meter transmission line, four towers, two portals and the new Navarra substation, designed to connect the 120-megawatt data center to the existing Bacata electrical grid.
ODATA announced BG03 in 2024 as a 120-MW facility within Tenjo's Zona Franca Metropolitana, part of a US$1.3 billion regional expansion plan that includes a 24-MW facility in nearby Mosquera, bringing total planned IT capacity to 144 MW. Initial construction is targeted for completion by the end of 2026. The project reflects broader expansion of artificial intelligence infrastructure globally. ODATA operates as a subsidiary of Aligned Data Centers, acquired in July by the Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership (AIP), MGX and BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). Microsoft is a founding AIP partner, and Nvidia joined as a technical adviser in 2025.
BG03 is designed as a hyperscale facility for high-density computing, cloud platforms and advanced AI applications—ODATA's largest operational facility in Colombia and its first asset directly connected to the country's high-voltage transmission system. The 120-MW specification denotes maximum IT capacity rather than fixed electrical consumption; actual power use varies with processing loads, server efficiency and hardware utilization. To support high-density processing, BG03 will deploy Delta Cube, a proprietary air-cooling system developed by Aligned that captures heat directly from server racks and interfaces with direct liquid-cooling platforms. Current public disclosures do not specify exact electricity or water consumption during normal operations.
Nvidia and Microsoft connect to the Tenjo project through corporate structure rather than direct facility ownership. Aligned acquired ODATA in 2023; on July 21, 2026, AIP, MGX and GIP finalized an acquisition of 100% of Aligned's equity, valuing the company at approximately US$40 billion. AIP was established in September 2024 by BlackRock, GIP, MGX and Microsoft to build global computing infrastructure and dedicated power systems. Neither Nvidia nor Microsoft directly owns the Tenjo property; ownership runs from ODATA to Aligned to AIP, MGX and GIP, with Microsoft and Nvidia participating as strategic AIP partners.
Due to its scale, BG03 requires dedicated utility infrastructure. ANLA confirmed that licensed transmission assets will supply the data center through a 220-kV circuit. The approved construction includes the 1,037-meter transmission line, four towers, two portals and the Navarra 230/34.5-kV substation. Though the structures accommodate two circuits, the current license authorizes only one. ANLA assigned BG03 a connection capacity of 50 MW on the grid—separate from the planned 120 MW of IT capacity and distinct from total operational power consumption. The environmental license also establishes mitigation requirements: ODATA must compensate for impacts across 4.41 hectares through localized ecological preservation and restoration. The power transmission project does not require water concessions, wastewater permits, stream-crossing authorizations or air emissions licenses. The September 16 decision covers external power delivery rather than environmental licensing for the entire data center complex.
The project has drawn scrutiny from neighboring communities. Juan Romero, president of the La Punta Community Action Board in Tenjo, told Revista RAYA that residents were only recently informed of the development and had not received thorough community consultation. La Punta is the rural administrative area where the construction site is located. Local concerns center on power requirements; RAYA reported potential peak electricity demand equivalent to nearly 100,000 households' consumption, citing analytical estimates from Cerosetenta rather than official data from ANLA or ODATA.
The development coincides with broader municipal land-use changes. In June 2026, Colombia's Ministry of Agriculture designated 5,703 hectares in Tenjo as protected food-production zones to counter urban sprawl and land speculation. While this does not indicate legal violation by ODATA, it reflects local concerns about agricultural preservation amid industrial development.
ODATA's phased buildout, targeting late 2026 completion, includes the 120-MW BG03 campus and the 24-MW BG02 facility. These facilities represent Latin America's expanding AI infrastructure, dependent on heavily capitalized partnerships to develop the power and processing capacity high-density computing demands. For Colombia, the project underscores the substantial high-voltage infrastructure modern data centers require. ANLA's September 16 approval clears a regulatory hurdle for the Navarra substation and its 50-MW grid connection, advancing ODATA's plans for high-capacity computing infrastructure in Tenjo.