Datacenter investments boom in the Nordics

In September the Swedish giant in communications technology and services Ericsson revealed a decision to invest approximately SEK 5 billion in the coming five years to build two global ICT Centers in Sweden. Meanwhile, datacenter owner and operator DigiPlex has purchased a 10-acre site in Sweden outside Stockholm. Once completed, the datacenter will deliver up to 20 MW of power offering both retail and wholesale space.

Google, after having secured a long-term wind power deal in northern Sweden, is also continuing to ramp up its investment in its European datacenter operations, announcing that approximately USD 608 million will be spent to add capacity to its Hamina datacenter. And in the wake of the Nokia acquisition, Microsoft indicated investments in Finland in the near future.

- We are seeing the confirmation of the Nordics as an attractive, growing market in Europe, and a prime location for strategic datacenter hubs, says Tomas Sokolnicki, investment advisor and project manager at The Swedish Datacenter Initiative. Our region has become a symbol for some of the biggest green initiatives in the industry. When industry leaders like Facebook and Google show the way to secure green and stable locations and affordable prices, many other players also direct their gaze in the same direction.

Key factors to the trend of moving datacenters to the Nordic countries are that they are powered predominantly by hydroelectricity that gives them relatively low energy unit costs.

The Data Centre Risk Index 2013 confirms this by stating:
“Consequently, the region dominates this year’s global top 10: Sweden is ranked as the third safest place worldwide to base a datacenter, rising from eighth last year, while Iceland (seventh), Norway (eighth) and Finland (ninth) all feature in prominent positions.” The index evaluates risks likely to affect the success of datacenter facilities in the 30 most important global markets. The report is produced by international consulting firms Cushman & Wakefield, Hurleypalmerflatt and Source8.

Swedish Datacenter Initiative – a one-stop shop
To meet the growing need for datacenter locations, Sweden has formed a unique initiative with teams in 10 regions around the country with shovel-ready sites in close proximity to the electricity grid and fibre networks. The initiative has support from a number of well-known companies, e.g. energy giant Vattenfall, fibre-optic network operator TeliaSonera International Carrier and Coromatic, experts on datacenter design and operation.