The EU launches a 30 billion euros Tender for 7 AI Gigafactories
- Portugal Business News - Valerie Charoux
- 5 hours ago
- 2 min read
Tech News Europe - The EU has launched a 30 billion euros Tender for 7 AI Gigafactories under the European High-performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC) initiative published on July 30, 2026 and applications are open until November 12, 2026. Here is the description of  the EU Tender for 7 AI Gigafactories under the EuroHPC as well as the joint Portugal and Spain proposal for AI Gigafactories:
What is the EU Tender for 7 AI Gigafactories under the EuroHPC?
The EU Tender for 7 AI Gigafactories under the EuroHPC is an open procedure under identifier EUROHPC/2026/OP/0008 and is divided under 2 lots namely:
Call for Tenders for the selection of Artificial Intelligence Gigafactory Consortia and the establishment of Medium-Scale AI Gigafactories
Selection of Artificial Intelligence Gigafactory Consortia for the establishment of Large-Scale AI Gigafactories
The overall objective of the EU Tender for 7 AI Gigafactories under the EuroHPC is the selection of AI Gigafactory (AIGF) Consortia, which will establish and operate the AI Gigafactories and from which the Contracting Parties will acquire AI compute access time.
The specific objectives of the EU Tender for 7 AI Gigafactories under the EuroHPC are as follows:
- Selection of AIGF Consortia:
Following a rigorous evaluation of the tenders by the EuroHPC JU with the support of independent experts, the Governing Board will make an award decision, establishing a ranked list of successful AIGF Consortia.
- Procurement of Compute Access Time:
To establish a framework for the joint acquisition of a guaranteed share of AI compute access time from the selected AIGF Consortia, formalized through the signature of a Framework Contract and a number of subsequent Specific Contracts with the successful AIGF Consortia.
AIGF refers to state-of-the-art large-scale facility with sufficient capacity to handle the complete lifecycle, from development to large-scale inference, of very large AI models and applications, providing a supercomputing service infrastructure which is composed of AI-optimised computing capacity, a supporting Data Centre infrastructure including high-capacity storage and networking, dedicated secure cloud user access environments, and specialised secure AI-oriented support services for its advanced operations, all of which are supported by an environmentally sustainable infrastructure, in particular for energy and water supply systems.
What is the joint Portugal and Spain proposal for AI Gigafactories?
Portugal and Spain made a joint application for AI Gigafactories in both countries since March 2026 for an estimated investment of 8 billion euros.
In Portugal, Sines is the chosen location for the AI Gigafactory, with the Portuguese Government investing 6 million euros, a sum expected to be co-financed by the European Union through the Portuguese Development Bank (BPF).
