Data centers chew through a huge amount of power, thanks largely to the cooling demands involved. To help fight that on both fronts, the world's largest data center is set to be built in northern Norway, making use of the chilly Arctic climate to keep the servers cool while drawing all of its power from renewable sources.
While we've seen Microsoft attempt to water-cool a data center by placing it at the bottom of the sea, the Arctic circle is essentially a giant fridge, making it prime real estate for large-scale data storage. Kolos, the company behind the facility, has picked out a site near the Norwegian town of Ballangen, a lakeside spot that provides a natural moat that turns the facility into a secure "fortress for data."
Kolos says 100 percent of the data center's power will come from renewable sources, specifically wind and hydroelectricity harvested from the surrounding waterways. These sources will apparently reduce energy costs by 60 percent, even with the facility expected to eventually be churning through a record-breaking 1,000 MW of power, making it the world's largest.
So far, Kolos has partnered with the architecture design firm HDR, which has created renders of the proposed building, acquired the land and raised series A capital. According to the company, the project will create about 2,000 to 3,000 new local jobs.
Source: Kolos