Mega data centre eyes mini footprint

Data centres are getting bigger and going greener – like Lefdal in Norway, which is aiming to be Europe’s biggest and most environmentally sound.

Sitting below sea-level in a former mine, the centre uses 100% clean power from local sources, and is cooled by water from a fjord located close-by. ABB supplied the power infrastructure, which offers renewables from four glacial hydropower stations and two windmill farms. These innovations support the green growth of facilities that often guzzle resources.

“Cooling is crucial, because these servers generate huge amounts of heat. Because water cooling is so efficient, these server containers can run up to 50 kW of power, where you would normally expect just 7-8 kW with traditional air cooling,” said Mats Andersson, Marketing Director, Lefdal Mine Datacenter.

 

It follows the development of another data centre in the region, labelled a game changer by Norwegian-American firm, Kolos, which is to be built 140 miles from the Arctic Circle. The world’s largest data centre project is for a ‘four-storey structure integrated into the natural environment’ that stretches over 600,000 square meters and is powered by 100% renewable energy.