Whitewater Group marks next stage of Spanish expansion with €3 million offsite manufacturing facility development

Irish water engineering company Whitewater Group has marked a major step in its European expansion with a ground-breaking ceremony for its new €3 million Alpha 2 production facility in Tomelloso, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

The development represents the largest investment by a foreign-owned company in the Tomelloso area and the first phase of Whitewater Group’s wider growth plan for Spain.

The company plans to develop Tomelloso as a centre of excellence for engineering, off-site manufacturing and modular delivery, supported by future development in Zaragoza and the wider Aragón region.

Alpha 2 will be Whitewater Group’s second production facility in Tomelloso, operating alongside its existing Alpha 1 facility. Built on a 10,000 m² plot, the development will add more than 3,000 m² of industrial production space, together with offices, warehousing, outdoor storage and specialist crane infrastructure.

The expanded facility will support the delivery of large-scale water treatment and cooling infrastructure for data centre, pharmaceutical and industrial projects across Europe.

It will also enable Whitewater Group to advance a first-of-its-kind off-site manufactured modular approach within the business. Water treatment and cooling systems will be engineered, fabricated, assembled and tested in a controlled manufacturing environment before being transported to client sites for final installation and commissioning.

This approach is designed to improve safety, quality control, programme certainty and delivery efficiency, while reducing construction activity and complexity on project sites.

Whitewater Group is an Irish-based engineering company specialising in water treatment and cooling infrastructure for critical industries. It employs more than 250 people internationally, with approximately half of its global workforce now based in Spain.

The ground-breaking ceremony followed the traditional Spanish “primera piedra” format and included the signing of the official commencement of works document and the placement of symbolic items into a time capsule representing Ireland, Spain, Castilla-La Mancha and the day of the event.

Speakers included Emiliano García-Page, President of the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha; Javier Navarro, Mayor of Tomelloso and Begoña Villacís, Executive Director of Spain DC, the Spanish Data Centre Association.

Speaking at the ceremony, John Knowles, CFO at Whitewater Group, said:

“Alpha 2 is an important milestone in Whitewater Group’s international growth. This €3 million investment reflects our long-term commitment to Spain and strengthens our ability to support clients delivering critical infrastructure across Europe.

“Our ambition is to develop Tomelloso as a centre of excellence for engineering, off-site manufacturing and modular delivery. By engineering, assembling and testing systems before they reach site, we can provide greater certainty in quality, safety and project delivery.

“This is the first phase of a wider development plan for Whitewater Group in Spain, with further growth planned in Zaragoza and across the Aragón region.”

Construction has now formally commenced, with the development programme continuing into 2027.

Once operational, Alpha 2 will increase Whitewater Group’s European manufacturing capacity and strengthen its position as a specialist delivery partner for engineered water treatment and cooling infrastructure across critical industries.