Announced at the II Brazil–European Union Investment Forum, held in partnership with ApexBrasil, the European Union’s expansion of the submarine internet connection between Europe and Brazil is now planned to reach northern Brazil, potentially connecting the Guianas and the southern Caribbean in the medium to long term.

The new branch of the EllaLink system will run north from Fortaleza, connecting Cayenne in French Guiana, with branches in São Luís, Maranhão, and Silinópolis, Pará, bringing high-speed connectivity between Europe and the Amazon basin.

The company claims that the route can reduce response times by up to 50% between certain European and Latin American data centers, providing a significant reduction in latency for transatlantic communications.

For modern applications such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, financial services, scientific processing, and data centers, this reduction in transmission time could translate into important operational efficiency gains.

The 2,100-kilometer extension will connect to a new cable landing station in Cayenne, French Guiana, as well as two branches extending into northern Brazil. The project will receive €260.8 million in investment, partially financed through the European Commission’s CEF Digital program, managed by the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA).

The project also foresees subsequent connections from French Guiana to the Caribbean, in addition to the implementation of systems considered essential for modern digital infrastructure, including Smart Nodes, advanced cybersecurity services, data resilience, and climate and environmental monitoring along the submarine route.

EllaLink was completed in 2021, linking Lisbon and Fortaleza in northeastern Brazil.

The EllaLink submarine cable system was built with state-of-the-art coherent technology, initially offering 100 Tbps of capacity across four direct fiber pairs over a 6,600-kilometer route between Europe and Brazil.

Since then, the private company has expanded its network to several African countries and European overseas territories and islands, including the Canary Islands, Morocco, Mauritania, Cape Verde, and Senegal.

EllaLink is owned by the Marguerite Fund, a pan-European equity fund that acts as a catalyst for key investments in renewable energy, energy, and transport. The fund was originally established by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and other European institutions.

The Data Center Opportunity in Northeast Brazil

Northeastern Brazil is experiencing a growing wave of data center investment, supported in part by the expansion of energy projects across the region.

The availability of electricity is a critical factor for large-scale data centers, which require substantial amounts of power to operate. The region’s growing renewable energy capacity, particularly from solar and wind power, could provide an important advantage for projects seeking access to lower-carbon energy sources, especially for European companies with ESG requirements.

In this context, regions such as the Port of Pecém stand out. The port is set to host ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, with an investment of around US$10 billion in the first phase, potentially reaching more than US$40 billion over the next 10 years.

The area is only around 50 kilometers from EllaLink’s maritime connection in Fortaleza and is also receiving other projects that could further expand energy availability, including the New Eneva’s $1.2Bi natural gas power plant, currently under construction in the region, as well as green hydrogen projects.

With connections to other cities in the region, including São Luís, Maranhão, and Silinópolis, Pará, the region could see further growth in data center and related investment, supported by faster internet connectivity and direct connections to Europe and Africa.

Digital Sovereignty

Beyond strengthening ties between Brazil and the EU, the project can be viewed as part of a broader strategy for digital sovereignty between the EU, Brazil, and Mercosur. EllaLink provides a direct connection between the two regions.

For Brazil, the expansion further consolidates its position as one of Latin America’s digital gateways to Europe, improving international connectivity for businesses, universities, research centers, and technology companies.

Beyond telecommunications, the project strengthens the broader EU–Brazil Digital Partnership, which seeks to deepen cooperation in cybersecurity, digital governance, artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and research infrastructure.

The initiative also reflects Europe’s broader strategy of investing in trusted digital corridors with strategic partners around the world, reducing dependence on traditional internet routes and reinforcing secure international data flows.

The project is especially important for reducing reliance on U.S.-linked submarine cables, which carry much of the connectivity between Europe and Latin America, while strengthening digital sovereignty between the two continents.

EllaLink also fits within Europe’s Global Gateway strategy, which promotes sustainable infrastructure projects worldwide as an alternative model for financing digital, transport, and energy connectivity.