Quark, the leading engineering firm specialized in data centers in southern Europe, will open a branch in the Basque Country. It will be a technological hub for data center design that will incorporate, in the Sener facilities in Getxo, 30 highly qualified professionals in 2024. The decision responds to the growth of Quark’s business, which, after being acquired by Sener in 2023, has focused on its geographical expansion and internationalization, benefiting from the group’s global presence and its experience in the field of renewables and energy efficiency, among other areas.
Recently, Quark has secured its first contracts in France and Germany and has opened an office in Catalonia to develop two new projects in the region for two of the main players in the data center sector. These latest projects in Catalonia represent an investment of 160 million euros and are added to the project for Panattoni in Cerdanyola del Vallès, of 68,000 square meters, which will be the largest data center in the community, after an investment of 300 million euros.
Quark is the Spanish market leader in data center engineering and, in 2023, it secured 50% more contracts compared to the previous year and increased its workforce by 40 people, exceeding 100 employees. Ismael Martínez, Managing Director, Quark, points out that “the industry has a remarkable potential to boost the economy of the regions in which its facilities are located, increasingly more sophisticated and efficient.” In this sense, the sector’s association in Spain, Spain DC, estimates that the industry could attract direct investment of 3,000 million euros over the next five years in the country if conditions are favorable for its development.
Martínez adds: “the Basque Country has a great opportunity, thanks to the talent of its professionals, to lead the design of the most sophisticated and efficient data centers of the future, at a national and international level, thanks to the opening to new markets promoted from the acquisition by Sener. The region is an important cradle of talent, with highly esteemed professionals, both nationally and internationally.”
Architects, engineers, and digital twin experts, among the profiles in demand
Quark has announced that it will incorporate 50 professionals from different fields in the world of engineering in the new technology hub in Bilbao over the next two years, with the first incorporations taking place in March. Given that data centers need to incorporate progressively more demanding sustainability and energy efficiency criteria, the profiles necessary to satisfy the sector’s demand are increasingly multidisciplinary. In this sense, the professionals that Quark will incorporate in the Basque Country include highly qualified profiles, specialized in fields such as architecture, civil, mechanical, electrical engineering, digitalization and BIM (building information modeling).
With this opening, Sener reinforces its commitment to the Basque Country, recently exemplified with the decision to locate its next industrial production and engineering services center for the aerospace market of 8,000 square meters in Zamudio, with an initial investment of more than 25 million euros, which will host more than 300 highly qualified professionals in the coming years.
