Romania intending to host Black Sea AI Gigafactory

Romania is intending to host Black Sea AI Gigafactory, a state-of-the-art AI plant that will serve the Republic of Moldova and the entire Black Sea region, and it has submitted a letter of intent to the European Commission, according to the Ministry of Economy, Digital Transformation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism.

"The project submitted is not only about the construction of an AI Giga Factory in Romania, but it also represents the real access to state-of-the-art infrastructure for our brothers in the Republic of Moldova, for the states in the Black Sea area - and here I must mention Ukraine and Turkey - who have expressed their strong support for this common need. This initiative is about bringing European values to the Black Sea: values such as cooperation, innovation, technological sovereignty, cybersecurity, inclusion and resilience. It's about ensuring that no country in this region falls behind. We are not just building an AI factory, we are laying the foundations of a Black Sea region that is connected, safe and ready for the future, anchored in the spirit of the common European spirit," says Minister of Economy, Digital Transformation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism Bogdan Ivan.

Romania's proposal is supported by a representative national consortium made up of prestigious public, private and academic actors and aims to develop a state-of-the-art AI infrastructure, with hybrid architecture, capable of serving both complex training processes and AI inference, in a robust, safe and sustainable operational framework.

The project entails the installation of over 100,000 AI accelerators in two distinct locations: Cernavoda (Phase I) and Doicesti (Phase II), both selected for strategic advantages in terms of energy, digital infrastructure and access to high-capacity international connectivity. Thus, we are talking about a project that will be powered by an energy mix of up to a maximum of 1,500 MW, safe, affordable and sustainable, which positions Romania as a strategic hub for high-performance computing, respecting the environment, with carbon-free nuclear energy.

Romania's proposal is unique at European level through the facilities offered: Cernavoda is directly supplied with nuclear power and its digital infrastructure sources are connected to major European nodes by fibre optics and submarine cables, while Doicesti offers an industrial site with potential of co-location SMR, hybrid cooling and integration with the national high-speed communications network.

The consortium involves strategic partners from the private sector and the public sector, together with the most important universities in Romania; strategic beneficiaries such as companies in areas such as energy, consumer goods, advanced technologies, but also innovative startups and research institutes. The consortium will be expanded and strengthened to better reflect market requirements and the scale of the planned action.

In developing this application, the Ministry of Economy, Digital Transformation, Entrepreneurship and Tourism enjoyed support from international experts from the World Bank and the bank's Romanian office.

Romania is playing an active role in supporting the European Union's strategic objectives in terms of AI, federate cloud and HPC infrastructure, offering an operational model based on a dedicated legal vehicle (SPV), neutral governance and transparent access, and access to the consortium is open to other interested companies and EU states.

The cybersecurity dimension is a priority, being supported by the expertise gained by Romania in this area, including by hosting the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC).

In addition to contributing to the strengthening of European AI capacity, the proposed project will function as a catalyst for innovation in Central and Eastern Europe, with a direct impact on digital reconstruction Ukraine, technological integration in Moldova and the expansion of AI services to Serbia and Turkey.

Romania's candidacy reflects a firm commitment to European values and a solid execution plan. AI Gigafactory will be a benchmark for the European Union's digital sovereignty and an operational tool for accelerating digital transformation in the region.