Press Release of the Ministry of Digital Governance (in Greek)
The start of the implementation of the new European Supercomputer “DAEDALUS” and the Lavrion Data Centre, was announced by the Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou, today, 26th of March, at the Lavrion Technological and Cultural Park (LTCP),in Attica, Greece, where the new supercomputer will be built.
In addition, the contract for the construction of the supercomputer was signed between the National Infrastructures for Research and Technology – (GRNET S.A.), operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Digital Governance, and “Hewlett Packard Enterprise” and EuroHPC JU, while the contract for the electromechanical equipment and the layout of the area was signed with “MainSys S.A.”.
The project has a total budget of 58.9 million euros (including VAT) and is part of the enhancement of the country’s public digital infrastructure, integrated in the Digital Transformation Bible 2020-2025 of the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance. It is coordinated by GRNET, operating under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance, in the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0” with funding from the European Union – NextGenerationEU through RRF and the European organization EuroHPC JU (European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking).
More specifically, the project will be implemented in two phases and will be carried out by GRNET in cooperation with two contractors to whom the public tenders were awarded, a) with the contractor “Hewlett Packard Enterprise” for the supply and installation of advanced computer equipment, storage space, software, and training services, with a total budget of 41 million euros. (including VAT), and b) with the contractor “MainSys SA” for the configuration of the electromechanical infrastructure and the configuration of the new Data Centre in the Lavrion Technological and Cultural Park, with a total budget of EUR 17.9 million (including VAT).
The Lavrion Data Centre meets the requirements of the International Data Centre Certification Organization “Uptime Institute” in terms of availability and reliability, and operates in accordance with the security policies of GRNET S.A.
The DAEDALUS supercomputer, with a total power of 89 PetaFlops, will be the most powerful computing system in Greece and one of the leading systems in Europe. Building this system is an important step for the country’s scientific and technological development, boosting research and innovation potential in the fields of Artificial Intelligence, medicine, meteorology, big data analysis and the development of smart transport systems. The supercomputer infrastructure focuses on sustainability using renewable energy sources and advanced cooling systems that significantly reduce energy consumption.
It’s worth mentioning that the new national supercomputer will be 150 times more powerful than the existing ARIS supercomputer, performing eighty-nine million billion (i.e. eighty-nine quadrillion – 89,000,000,000,000,000) floating point operations per second, and is expected to rank in the top twenty of the world’s top 500 systems in terms of performance (TOP500) and energy efficiency (GREEN500). Its computational capacity aims to meet the growing demands and needs of the scientific research and education communities, attracting scientists and contributing to world-class research. DAEDALUS aims to be available in early 2026, for use by the scientific and academic community, industry and the public sector in Greece and across Europe, strengthening Greece’s position on the global map of high performance computing.
Furthermore, DAEDALUS and the new Data Centre will be located at the Lavrion Technological and Cultural Park of the National Technical University of Athens, in the historic building of the former Electric Power Station, a significant monument of modern industrial heritage, covering an area of 1,500 square metres. The site development represents a major investment in the field of High Performance Computing (HPC) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), reinforcing the role of the region as a cutting-edge technology hub.
DAEDALUS will be the computational core of the Greek AI Factory “Pharos”, which will promote technological progress in the fields of health, environmental sustainability, culture and language. The project is scheduled to be launched in April 2025. As one of the first seven European countries to host such a “Factory”, Greece has already established itself amongst the pioneers in the responsible and effective use of AI, bringing significant benefits to society and the economy.
The Greek Minister of Digital Governance, Dimitris Papastergiou stated: “From Lavrion, a historic place for the country’s industry, from which 120 years ago the 2nd industrial revolution commenced, we start our journey towards the 4th industrial revolution moving into the era of Artificial Intelligence. We continue to establish ourselves as a pioneering country with responsible use of AI and emerging technologies. By building the “DAEDALUS” supercomputer we acquire one of the most powerful computing systems in the world and we strengthen the country’s innovation ecosystem, directly related with AI. Its construction was also a key factor in choosing Greece to be one of the first seven European AI “Factories”. Here, in this space, where a factory existed so many years ago, a new one will take its place, with innovative infrastructures, and the computational capabilities of “DAEDALUS” will act as a driving force for the development of the research and business community. It is worth mentioning that DAEDALUS will be one of the fastest supercomputers in Europe and in the world. Public institutions, universities, businesses, research centres will be able to utilise its capacity to develop applications, services and products for the benefit of citizens, contributing to the development of the country. We are all moving forward together to the next digital chapter for Greece with a solid foundation, in order to take advantage of all the opportunities available offered by AI“.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of GRNET and Professor Emeritus of NTUA S.Kollias, said: “DAEDALUS is a technological leap forward for our country. Its operation will strengthen the research and innovation dynamics of Greece and will contribute significantly to the development of advanced technologies as it will also be used in the implementation of the AI Factory Faros. GRNET reaffirms its commitment to the threefold infrastructure – data – talent, which it considers as the basis for the widespread adoption of AI in public sector services, aiming at the continuous improvement of the quality of citizens’ lives.”
The CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Michael Kasimiotis stated: “We are proud that we, as Hewlett Packard Enterprise, are contributing to the realization of the DAEDALUS supercomputer, a landmark project for Greece and its scientific and research community. DAEDALUS is not just a supercomputer – it is the bridge that will lead Greece into the new era of technology and digital innovation, enabling Greece’s brightest minds to express their talents. We are delighted that through our expertise in high-performance infrastructure, we will actively support the creation of a cutting-edge computing system that will accelerate research, innovation and sustainable development. We are committed to providing leading high-performance solutions that will enable the scientific and academic community, public administration and the business world to fully exploit the potential of computing power and AI applications. This project will place the country at the global forefront of advanced technology.”
The CEO of MainSys, George Plavoukos commented: “MainSys undertakes the creation of a state-of-the-art data center with vision and expertise, laying new foundations for the technological excellence of Greece. This project is not just about infrastructure, it is an innovation accelerator that will shield the country’s research and technological potential. Daedalus and the AI Factory Faros put us on the map as pioneers in the race to integrate artificial intelligence, a race we can lead at the European level. MainSys invests in the power of data and, more importantly, in the talent of its people. Because true innovation is not just about technology – it’s about perspective, ambition and boldness”.
Anders Jensen, EuroHPC JU Executive Director added: “DAEDALUS is the 10th supercomputer procured by EuroHPC JU, further supporting our mission to provide European scientists and industry with access to cutting-edge HPC infrastructures and services. I look forward to seeing this new system become operational next year and to its integration into Pharos, one of our new AI Factories.”
It is worth mentioning that the event was attended and addressed by the Minister of Digital Governance Dimitrios Papastergiou, Professor Emeritus of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and Chairman of the Board of Directors Stefanos Kolias, Professor Nectarios Koziris, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), and National Representative for EuroHPC, the Rector of NTUA Ioannis Hadjigeorgiou, the President of Lavrion Technological Cultural Park (LTCP) and Vice President of NTUA- Asset Management and Development Corporation (AMDC) Dimitrios Kaliambakos, the Managing Director Greece & Cyprus of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Michael Kasimiotis, the Managing Director of MainSys SA Georgios Plavoukos, the Director of the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications of the National Research Centre for Computer Science “Demokritos” Evangelos Karkaletsis and the Legal Advisor to the Minister of Digital Governance Vassilis Karkazounis.
