The site in question should offer four times more energy than the former Kremikovtsi, water capable of cooling the Kozloduy NPP and a terrain of such dimensions that it could hold Lukoil Neftochim Burgas. These are the needs of a relatively large computing center for artificial intelligence (AI), which has been a hot topic among local politicians recently.
Work on such AI gigafactories is just starting around the world, with expectations that the development of new technologies with artificial intelligence will require dozens of them. But it turns out that this is not an easy task even when companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI, etc. have the necessary baseline minimum of 10 billion euros to invest in just one single site. The main problem is providing the three elements mentioned above - sufficient power supply, cooling capacity, and available land.
It is precisely because of the presence of all of them that Bulgaria is also included in the global race to attract such large-scale investments. The country's name has been in the news in recent weeks in connection to the construction of an AI gigafactory, and last week President Rumen Radev even initiated a roundtable on the topic. The aim was to discuss the real chances of attracting such an investment and outline the steps the country should take to position itself as a suitable destination for a project of such magnitude.
The discussion, which included representatives of the ministries of economy, energy and innovation, mayors, university rectors, and people from the technology business, concluded that the state, municipalities, educational and scientific institutions, and business need to convene to prepare a clear and specific offer to potential investors. That is - draft a general conceptual proposal that describes specific locations for the construction of such AI gigafactories, as well as the provided power supply and electricity price for a long period, in addition to cooling, labor, optical connectivity, and administrative relief, among others.
If it manages to position itself as a good technology destination for investments of this scale, Bulgaria will not only attract billions in cutting-edge technology but will also develop an entire ecosystem around it that could create thousands of new jobs.
What does Bulgaria offer?
Bulgaria is usually not considered an attractive investment destination due to problems with corruption and the rule of law, and also because it lacks the appropriate expertise and infrastructure. In the case of AI gigafactories, however, the country has definite advantages such that, if it offers a coherent and timely proposal, it has a real chance of attracting investors.
Unlike most countries in Europe or Asia, Bulgaria has available energy capacities that significantly exceed its electricity needs. In other words, we don't need to build new power plants to provide energy for AI computing centers. This is considered the country's biggest advantage for similar projects, which would otherwise have to invest in additional capacity and wait for years to be implemented elsewhere.
What's next?
Currently, various institutions are holding separate talks with tech giants like Google and Microsoft, presenting them with only a fraction of what Bulgaria can offer. The Ministry of Energy is offering secure energy supplies at fixed prices, the Ministry of Innovation is offering state support and use of the investor's cloud services, and the municipalities are offering land and connectivity. All of this should be combined into one document that can be used by everyone, including businesses, which are also conducting separate negotiations to attract partners here.
The expectation is that by 2030, many more data centers will be built in the world than in the last 20 years combined. And right now, the biggest challenge in attracting any of them here is the necessity of acting quickly because the decision-making window will only last a year or two.
Another important element is that such investments can only be made by a handful of companies in the world, such as Microsoft, Google, Meta, Nvidia, and others, while almost every country in the world would willingly accept their investments.
President Radev's meeting concluded that a concrete plan must be established by 2026. Radev believes we have all the conditions necessary, but the huge challenge is whether our heavy, cumbersome bureaucratic machine can be set in motion to attract a system that moves at hypersonic speed, that is not driven by political ego and political interests, but by a single criterion - success and money.
"Two inherently different attitudes to doing business collide. And this is the big problem that can only be solved if we maintain a high level of ambition, have political will, and unanimity from all players," he added. According to him, where large data centers and artificial intelligence are built, societies will drive the development of humanity, and develop the next generation of technologies, leaving others simply as consumers of these technologies.
The site in question should offer four times more energy than the former Kremikovtsi, water capable of cooling the Kozloduy NPP and a terrain of such dimensions that it could hold Lukoil Neftochim Burgas. These are the needs of a relatively large computing center for artificial intelligence (AI), which has been a hot topic among local politicians recently.
Work on such AI gigafactories is just starting around the world, with expectations that the development of new technologies with artificial intelligence will require dozens of them. But it turns out that this is not an easy task even when companies such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, OpenAI, etc. have the necessary baseline minimum of 10 billion euros to invest in just one single site. The main problem is providing the three elements mentioned above - sufficient power supply, cooling capacity, and available land.
