Norway: Norwegian government approves Green Mountain TikTok data facility

The government has granted Green Mountain permission to construct a data center campus for TikTok. However, stricter data center regulations may shortly be introduced in Norway. Green Mountain announced in March 2023 that it would construct three 90MW buildings in the Hamar region by November 2023 for the social media company, with the option to expand capacity to 150MW by 2025.

This year, European TikTok user information will begin to be hosted locally in the first of the company's two Dublin data centers. TikTok is separately developing the Oracle cloud-based 'Project Texas' initiative to store US data locally as it faces increasing scrutiny from American legislators. Several political organizations in Norway were critical of the decision. The Red Party (Rdt) stated that the decision demonstrated a weak energy policy.

Nammo, a Norwegian ammunition manufacturer, reported in March that it was unable to develop its factory because the additional TikTok data center had consumed the surplus electricity. 

The Norwegian Security Act requires screening of foreign direct investment (FDI) to ensure that foreign influence does not compromise the security or sovereignty of Norway. According to reports, Green Mountain will receive security advice and direction from the authorities, access security-graded threat and vulnerability accounts, and thus acquire additional security expertise. Additionally, the government will be in charge of overseeing it.