IREN Limited (NASDAQ: IREN) climbed 4.80% to $27.90, gaining $1.28 after recovering from an intraday low near $26.50, after the company secured a civil works license for a 300MW data center in Spain. The approval marks a step forward in IREN's European AI infrastructure buildout, with first operations at its Badajoz campus targeted for 2028.

IREN Secures Grid-Connected Power and Civil Works License for Badajoz Campus

IREN has secured grid-connected power and a civil works license for its Badajoz campus in the Extremadura region, and continues consultations with local, regional, and national officials as development moves forward. Once operational, Badajoz will become IREN's first European campus under a strategy of directly developing and operating its own data centers. Power interconnection and civil works approval rank among the longest-lead steps in data center development, with grid capacity often reserved years before a facility can come online.

The facility is designed around closed-loop liquid cooling, an approach intended to reduce water consumption during operations. Water use has become a growing point of scrutiny for data center projects in several regions, making closed-loop designs an increasingly common operator response. IREN has also engineered the site for compatibility with NVIDIA's DSX AI Factory Platform, with the infrastructure set up to support large-scale computing systems serving European AI customers.

The Spanish project adds capacity to IREN's announced network of more than 5GW of grid-connected power, a portfolio spanning North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. Across those regions, IREN plans to serve customers with differing data residency and computing requirements. Location carries weight for European customers in particular: EU data protection rules restrict how personal data can be transferred outside the bloc, and policymakers have promoted in-region infrastructure as a matter of digital sovereignty.

IREN Europe Established With Leadership Team to Drive Expansion

To lead its regional operations and planned AI cloud offerings, IREN has formed IREN Europe. The unit's European board will oversee local infrastructure and business development, giving the company a regional base for customers seeking control over their data and underlying infrastructure.

Ángel Corcóstegui has been named board chair, with Roberto Purcaro appointed executive director for Europe. Corcóstegui previously led Banco Santander and co-founded Magnum Capital. Purcaro brings more than 25 years of experience, including senior infrastructure and investment roles at Macquarie Capital.

IREN entered Europe in June 2026 through the acquisition of Nostrum Group, a Spanish data center developer. The transaction added a team of more than 60 employees with experience in Spanish data center development. Gabriel Nebreda, chief executive of IREN Spain, continues to lead the local business.

Managed AI Cloud Services Planned Following Mirantis Acquisition

IREN plans to deliver managed AI cloud services from Badajoz as capacity becomes operational, offering customers a route to run AI workloads within Europe. The company intends to operate its own sites and retain direct control over infrastructure.

Its acquisition of Mirantis has also expanded the software tools available for these services. The k0rdent AI platform can manage computing resources and separate customer workloads, capabilities that help organizations address European data residency, security, and governance requirements for their computing operations. The platform integrates NVIDIA Infra Controller and NVIDIA Run into its management tools.

IREN expects to offer these capabilities alongside its planned European computing capacity. With the license secured, the company will now advance site development at Badajoz while building out its regional cloud business. The path to the 2028 target for first operations runs through construction at the Extremadura site and the continued buildout of the company's European organization, with managed cloud services to follow as capacity comes online.