Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) owns a 212-hectare plot of land at Andrup, east of Esbjerg, for a planned hyperscale data center campus. The project, internally known as "Project Ember," envisions four data center buildings totaling 200,000 m² of data hall space, 50,000 m² of administrative and logistics buildings, one to two on-site high-voltage substations (each approximately 30,000 m²), and 6,500 m² of backup power infrastructure. At full buildout, the campus would consume an estimated 1,400 GWh of electricity annually.
The land was acquired in 2021 by Notitia Networks ApS, a Danish subsidiary of Facebook International Operations Limited (Ireland), for DKK 277 million (~$43M). Facebook had originally investigated the site in 2018 under Project Ember but shelved the project in early 2019. Esbjerg Municipality purchased the land and later resold it when Facebook re-engaged in 2021.
Meta paused the project in 2022, citing a need to revise its data center design. The company is testing a new AI-optimized architecture at other campuses before committing to new builds. As of 2025, Meta has paid to extend milestone deadlines in its agreement with Esbjerg Municipality and has entered the Energinet grid connection queue. However, a nationwide shortage of transmission capacity on Denmark's high-voltage network has created uncertainty around the timeline for grid energization.
Esbjerg's appeal as a data center location stems from its proximity to multiple submarine cable landings, including the HAVFRUE transatlantic cable connecting to New Jersey, the North Sea Connect cable to the United Kingdom, and the COBRA cable to the Netherlands. The area also offers access to abundant offshore wind energy, including the nearby Thor Wind Farm, and power supply ranging from 10 kV to 150 kV with the possibility to connect to the 400 kV transmission line.