< Previous36 MARCH 2025 SITE SELECTION Brazil’s Handshake To the World Market access, resources and a diversifying economy propel an FDI juggernaut. I t might surprise some to learn that the world’s second most popular destination for foreign direct investment, behind only the United States, is Brazil. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Latin America’s largest economy received $64.23 billion in FDI inflows in 2023, and further solidified its No. 2 ranking over the first five months of 2024, when it attracted an additional $32 billion. Altios, the international business expansion consultancy, hailed Brazil as “an extraordinary choice” for FDI in a summary released in December. “Brazil’s size, diverse economy and long-term growth potential position it as one of the most attractive FDI destinations globally. Its vast natural resources, expanding consumer market and strategic role in global trade create significant opportunities for forward- thinking investors.” According to a 2024 report by the U.S. State Department, the government of Brazil “actively encourages FDI, particularly in the automobile, renewable energy, life sciences, oil and gas, mining and transportation infrastructure sectors. Investment incentives,” said the report, “include tax exemptions and low-cost financing, with no distinction made between domestic and foreign investors in most sectors.” Site Selection’s Conway Projects Database identifies Brazil as a target for foreign investment across sectors including aerospace, automotive, machinery, life sciences, plastics, metals, electronics and energy. Projects announced over the past 12 months have come from numerous businesses based in Europe, plus others in the U.S., Japan and South Korea. by GARY DAUGHTERS gary.daughters@siteselection.com BRAZIL Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in October welcomed Queen Mary of Denmark for the announcement of an expansion by Novo Nordisk in Montes Claros. Photo by Ricardo Stuckert: Flickr SITE SELECTION MARCH 2025 37 Reshoring the Auto Industry Brazil’s large domestic market and leadership position in Mercosur, the South American trade bloc and customs union established in 1991, have helped to fashion Brazil as a prime nearshoring hub for automakers seeking proximity to North America. Stellantis, Mercedes, Honda, Hyundai, GM, Ford and Volvo are among top global OEMs with Brazilian manufacturing operations. In April 2024, Honda announced an $807 million investment in its plant in Itirapina, outside São Paulo, meant to focus on new technologies and the development of a hybrid model for the Brazilian market. The vehicle would be able to run on ethanol, which is in vast supply in Brazil. Andre Jalonetsky, communications director for Brazil’s National Association of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers, says Brazil has also become a beneficiary of reshoring within the industry. “For us,” Jalonetsky tells Site Selection, “it has produced some very positive effects. We are a stable democracy that’s closer to the U.S. than China. And we have a lot of experience and expertise in automotive.” Citing “significant growth in orders from both Japanese and U.S. automobile manufacturers,” Japan’s Koito Manufacturing announced a $98 million expansion of its production facility west of São Paulo. The lighting equipment manufacturer expects to boost the plant’s capacity by 70%. Koito projects its revenue in Brazil to double by fiscal 2026. An Emerging Hub for Novo Nordisk During the latter part of 2024, Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk announced two separate investments totaling $243 million in its plant in Montes Claros, the company’s largest manufacturing facility outside Denmark. An initial investment of $158 million, announced in October during a visit by Denmark’s Queen Mary, is to expand production of insulin at the company’s complex in the city of 400,000 in Minas Gerais State north of Rio de Janeiro. Inaugurated in 2007, the plant employs close to 2,000 workers and accounts for 25% of the pharma giant’s insulin output. Novo Nordisk is the world’s most prolific supplier of insulin. In December, Novo Nordisk announced an additional investment of $85 million to construct a plant annex at Montes Claros to boost production of enzymes essential to producing Ozempic and Wegovy, the company’s wildly successful diabetes and obesity drugs. Production is to begin in 2027 and is projected to triple capacity for the enzymes enteropeptidase and ALP. “This investment is crucial,” Novo Nordisk Vice President Reinaldo Costa said in a statement, adding that it “reaffirms our commitment to Brazil and Minas Gerais.” Novo Nordisk has also entered into a $245 million partnership with Brazil’s Elétron Energy to construct a large-scale solar farm in Minas Gerais that’s to supply 100% of the electricity needs for the Montes Claros complex. BRAZIL’S TOP FOREIGN INVESTMENTS COMPANY INVESTMENT COUNTRY OF ORIGIN Eurochem (Plastics) $1 billion Switzerland Honda (Automotive) $807 million Japan Novo Nordisk (Pharma) $243 million Denmark Hitachi Energy (Electronics) $200 million Switzerland DS Multimedia Kiota (Electronics) $144.2 million South Korea Source: Conway Projects Database38 MARCH 2025 SITE SELECTION T he global profile of corporate end-user facility investment activity in 2024 mirrors the overall economy. Some things stay the same: The number of major facility construction projects qualifying for the Conway Projects Database (at least $1 million invested, 20 new jobs create or 20,000 new sq. ft. of space) was highest in Machinery, Equipment & Construction for the eighth year in a row, at 1,672, up by 4.2% over the total tally in 2023. Food & Beverage hung on to second place with 1,306 projects globally, up by 1.6% year-over-year. More significant changes occur in the next slots: Transport & Logistics tallied 998 projects, down 8.4% from the 1,090 projects recorded in 2023, possibly reflecting a cool-down from a post-pandemic supply chain scramble. But the most dramatic change came in Business & Financial Services, which leapt from 772 projects in 2023 to 954 in 2024 — a 23.7% spike that pushed last year’s No. 4 Chemicals & Plastics to No. 5 with 946 projects. Just outside of the top five sectors is last year’s No. 5 IT & Communications (i.e., data centers). But make no mistake, it’s still growing, as the sector’s tally went from 863 projects in 2023 to 927 in 2024, up by 7.4%. The map on these pages displays the top projects by investment in each of the five top industries. Among the standout projects: China’s Kibing Solar New Materials added onto Machinery, Equipment & Construction Food & Beverage Transport & Logistics Chemicals & Plastics Business & Financial $0 to $500 million investment $501 million to $1 billion investment over $1 billion investment by ADAM BRUNS adam.bruns@siteselection.com 2024 TOP INDUSTRIES Globalfoundries U.S. Malta, New York, USA $1.16 Billion Continental Baking Co. Montego Bay, Parish of Saint James, Jamaica $6.7 Billion Chantier Davie Canada Levis, Quebec, Canada $840 Million Morgan, Lewis & Bockius Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA $200 Million PDB Sports Denver, Colorado, USA $175 Million The Vanguard Group Charlotte, North Carolina, USA $117 Million Bell Bank Fargo, North Dakota, USA $100 Million Ellicott Development Of Buffalo Rochester, New York, USA $61 Million Dow Chemical Canada Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, Canada $6.62 Billion Hif Energy S.P.A. Paysandú, Departamento de Paysandú, Uruguay $4 Billion Element Fuels Holdings Brownsville, Texas, USA $3 Billion Caterpillar Lafayette, Indiana, USA $725 Million Bunge North America Destrehan, Louisiana, USA $775 Million The Machinery of Business Evolves Enstructure/Diamond State Port Corp. Edgemoor, Delaware, USA $635 Million SITE SELECTION MARCH 2025 39 its substantial Chinese manufacturing base by opening a new $1.6 billion photovoltaic glass manufacturing facility at the Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park (KKIP) in Sabah, Malaysia, that creates 1,400 jobs initially and aims to create 5,000 jobs in the future. Caterpillar in August 2024 broke ground on the largest expansion at its Lafayette, Indiana, large engine facility since it opened in 1982. A new building on the campus will allow the company to expand its ability to build and test new engines, genset packages and provide aftermarket component, Caterpillar said. One of the motivating forces is those ever-multiplying data centers. Caterpillar said the expansion, which will add 100 new jobs to a plant workforce of 1,900, “will support a growing need for backup and prime power for data centers globally, driven in part by cloud computing and generative artificial intelligence.” China’s Fufeng Group, a bio-fermentation industry leader specializing in the production of amino acids and their derivatives and the largest producer of monosodium glutamate and xanthan gum in the world, is investing in a vertically integrated industrial park in Kazakhstan for deep processing of corn, including starch sugar and amino acid fermentation plants, and also plans to operate a coal-fired thermal power plant and a wastewater treatment plant on the site. The office of the Kazakhstan prime minister says the plant will create around 1,000 jobs. “Kazakhstan seeks to increase the production of products with high added value, and the construction of complexes for deep processing of grain is a priority,” said Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov in November. “This is a strategic direction that allows us to diversify the economy and expand export opportunities.” 2024 TOP INDUSTRIES BY NUMBER OF PROJECTS INDUSTRY 2024 2023 % VAR Machinery, Equipment & Construction 1,671 1,604 4.2% Food & Beverage 1,306 1,285 1.6% Transport & Logistics 998 1,090 -8.4% Business & Financial 955 772 23.7% Chemicals & Plastics 946 917 3.2% Source: Conway Projects Database, Conway Data Inc./Site Selection SBH Kibing Solar New Materials Papar, Sabah, Malaysia $1.62 Billion Fufeng Group Aqmola Oblysy, Kazakhstan $650 Million Nongfu Spring Co. Jiande, Zhejiang, China $703 Million Groupe Souakri Adrar, Algeria $750 Million Baladna Q.P.S.C. Algeria $3.5 Billion DP World / Pt. Maspion / DP World Maspion East Java Gresik, Jawa Timur, Indonesia $1.2 Billion International Container Terminal Services Bauan, Calabarzon Philippines $800 Million New Times Shipbuilding Co. Taizhou, Jiangsu, China $692 Million Acme Clean Energy Gopalpur, Odisha, India $7 Billion Pt. Kobexindo Cement Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam Province, Indonesia $622 Million EET Hydrogen Ellesmere Port, UK $2.43 Billion40 MARCH 2025 SITE SELECTION DATA CENTERS Y ou know him as Kevin O’Leary, star of the hit TV show Shark Tank and mega- investor who’s earned the nickname Mr. Wonderful. To residents of Alberta, Canada, the native Canadian is about to be known as the developer of the world’s largest AI data center park. Located in the Municipal District of Greenview in northwestern Alberta, the project is called Wonder Valley and, upon buildout, will represent $70 billion of capital investment on a 7,000- acre tract in the heart of the northern Canadian wilderness. Slated to be built in phases over the next decade, the project could reach 7.5 GW upon completion and employ thousands of highly skilled workers. The official kickoff of the project was announced on December 10, 2024, in Greenview by O’Leary and leaders of the municipal district after O’Leary’s firm signed a letter of intent to purchase the land. O’Leary, chairman of O’Leary Ventures, the Miami-based company heading up the development, said, “My joint venture team led by Paul Palandjian, CEO of O’Leary Ventures, and Carl Agren, CEO of HPC and AI Data Centers, has sourced what we believe is the most compelling site in all of North America to generate over 7.5 gigawatts of low-cost power to hyperscalers over the next five to 10 years. Given existing permits, proximity to stranded sources of natural gas, pipeline infrastructure, water and a fiber-optic network within just a few kilometers of the Greenview Industrial Gateway, we will be in the ground and up and running sooner than any scale project of its kind.” The project is unique for several reasons: It sits on the largest deposit of natural gas in North America. It represents the largest private capital investment in Alberta history and in Canadian history. It is designed to operate off the grid. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith recently declared that Alberta has 200 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves. Wonder Valley would be built on top of that deposit and source the gas for its electrical power, says CEO Palandjian. Wonder Valley one by RON STARNER ron.starner@siteselection.com Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary bets $70 billion on a new AI park in Alberta. Stars Align In Wonder Valley Wonder Valley photos and renderings show the vision for a $70 billion, 7,000-acre campus in remote northwestern Alberta. Images courtesy of O’Leary Ventures and Greenview Industrial Gateway42 MARCH 2025 SITE SELECTION day could access up to % of Alberta’s natural gas supply. “At $ billion, this proposed data center mega-project is set to be the largest investment in Alberta’s history and the largest investment of its kind in the world,” Premier Smith said in an email response to a query from Site Selection. “ e jobs, economic diversifi cation and wealth generated will benefi t Albertans for generations. I’m excited to see this incredible project led by Kevin O’Leary coming to Wonder Valley, located in the Municipal District of Greenview. With Alberta’s low taxes, free market, abundant natural gas and skilled labor force, we’re positioned to be a world leader in AI data centers.” ‘The Stars Were Aligned’ Palandjian says “the stars were aligned” to make the deal happen. “Kevin has always been a guy who sees trends in the marketplace,” the CEO says. “He tries not to get caught up in the boom and bust. Kevin is averse to the risk of having to pick a winner. He would rather invest in the picks and shovels.” at led to a meeting with Carl Agren, who developed one of the fi rst AI data centers in Abu Dhabi. “ at got us very interested,” says Palandjian. “We focused on places where you can fi nd low- cost power. You need the four P’s to be successful: power, ping — or fi ber-optic networks —people and policy. Ultimately, the things that drive a pro forma for a data center include a relatively smooth pathway to permits; an advantageous tax regime and incentives; and not too many regulatory restrictions that would impede your ability to deliver all the redundancy required and maintainable systems.” Palandjian says that O’Leary Ventures found all of that in Greenview in northwestern Alberta — even though that was not the fi rst place the company looked. West Virginia was, followed by North Dakota. “Ninety days ago, we were boots on the ground for the fi rst time and looked at four locations in Alberta: Greater Calgary, Medicine Hat, the Industrial Heartland and the Municipal District of Greenview near Grand Prairie,” says Palandjian. “ at is where we found what we believe is a total unicorn for a couple of reasons: It has a tremendous amount of land. You need an acre per megawatt. We needed thousands of acres. We have that in the Greenview Industrial Gateway, or GIG. ey had assembled the land. ey had established permitted use of the land. ey had spent a tremendous amount of time and resources in upgrading the land by improving Highway and adding fi ber backbone.” e clincher, he said, was the power. “Producing power from natural gas is much cheaper than buying nuclear energy,” Palandjian says. “We know that the small nuclear reactors are not going to be ready anytime soon. And whether you use nuclear or natural gas, they require a tremendous amount of water. Very few communities have this kind of water. e GIG does. e GIG has everything we need within close proximity.” Having the land, water and power on site gives O’Leary Ventures the opportunity “to build a park at scale for . GW,” says Palandjian, adding, “It is possible to build more than that.” Cost savings will be signifi cant, he adds. “Around to cents per kilowatt hour is the goal for electricity costs in the U.S. for AI data centers,” he says. “We can produce power at . cents Canadian in Alberta. We will be paying one-third to one- fourth of what they will be paying for power in the My joint venture team… has sourced what we believe is the most compelling site in all of North America to generate over 7.5 gigawatts of low-cost power to hyperscalers over the next fi ve to 10 years.” — Kevin O’Leary , Founder & Chairman, O’Leary Ventures My joint venture team… has 44 MARCH 2025 SITE SELECTION U.S. That is a huge competitive advantage at GIG: producing power at scale at low cost.” If all goes according to plan, says Palandjian, “we will start lighting up data centers in Greenview in mid-2028. We do not yet know who the end-user is going to be, but we will design a hybrid data center campus that is built to 80% of the specs used by all the major hyperscalers. By and large, Microsoft, Google, Meta, SAP, Tesla and Oracle all have slightly different specs for their data centers, but there are some common threads. We will position the development to cast the widest possible net. There are not 1,000 potential clients. This is more like alien hunting in space and there are only seven aliens.” From Site Visit to LOI For Greenview, the project is a game- changer. Greenview is a municipal district of 9,500 residents who live in an area of 33,000 square kilometers (12,741 square miles). It takes over four hours to drive across it. Kyle Reiling, executive director of Greenview Industrial Gateway, says the lead came in last year “when I had received notification from one of the ministers that someone was looking at a large- scale data center development. They asked if I was available to go to Calgary and participate in a meeting on a large project. I met Paul [Palandjian] there. That is when I knew this could be the next level. We already had land, feedstock, water and dedicated fiber-optic lines. Two of the largest natural gas producers are within 450 meters of the site. That Friday, I spent three hours with them. After spending the whole morning with us, the company then met with Alberta Premier Smith and other leaders.” The company liked what they saw. “I received notification on Sunday that Paul was not going back to Dubai. Instead, Carl Agren was going to fly here to look at a master plan for 3,000 acres. This project has been very fast- moving ever since.” Reiling adds that “they have about a Kyle Reiling, Executive Director, Greenview Industrial Gateway SITE SELECTION MARCH 2025 45 year to get through all the approvals associated with the project. There is nothing comparable to this in Canada now.” He says around 1 billion cubic feet of natural gas will be consumed daily. “That is 10% to 12% of the natural gas consumed in Alberta,” Reiling says. “Phase one of the project will be 1.4 gigawatts and will cost about $12 billion. Each subsequent gigawatt of capacity will be another $10 billion.” Reiling says Alberta won over O’Leary because “they were absolutely blown away by the region’s support for this. Carl was impressed by the beauty of the region. We not only have natural gas and solar, but also one of the best sources of geothermal energy within 350 meters of the site.” Workforce needs will be met by local assets, Reiling adds. “The Northwest Polytechnic educational system has the ability to work with the O’Leary group to develop curriculum.” To access the project site, you fly into Grand Prairie, a city of 70,000 people, and then drive 42 kilometers (26 miles) south. “Workers won’t be a problem,” says Reiling. “Grand Prairie has all the amenities, a world-class hospital and a massive retail center that draw 250,000 people, plus lots of housing for full-time workers.” Wonder Valley is part of a provincial plan to recruit $100 billion in data center investment. Premier Smith has made this sector a key piece of her economic platform. In fact, she joined Kevin O’Leary in paying U.S. President Donald Trump a visit at Mar-a-Lago to discuss Wonder Valley and Trump’s tariffs. She appears to have won on both counts. Wendy Unger, government and industry liaison for the Municipal District of Greenview, says another unique aspect of Wonder Valley is that it will be completely off the grid. “It will be the biggest such project in the world; and we are working on securing a permanent water license,” she notes. “Turbines and natural gas will be used as power sources. We are sitting on the largest reserves of natural gas in Canada, and this sits on top of that reserve. Trillions of liters of gas are underground. The largest water supply in Alberta is on site. We have saved O’Leary years of engineering studies and design work.” Two U.S. States on the Clock Unger says Wonder Valley plans to hire 100 to 150 full-time employees per phase over seven to 10 phases. Up to 4,000 construction workers will be needed to build the campus over the next decade. “We have a very good construction workforce in Alberta,” she says. “They will be housed in a temporary worker camp on site. Technical talent will come from all over the world when the first phase of Wonder Valley opens. Many will be trained at a technical college in Grand Prairie. If this goes through, this will be the largest project in Courtesy of Greenview Industrial Gateway, Interprovincial Fuel Solutions, O’Leary Ventures, Municipal District of Greenview No. 16 GIG LAND OWNERSHIP MAPNext >