Telenor Group: Telenor and Hafslund to partner for new sustainable data center-focused company

Telenor and local energy company Hafslund have announced they're partnering to establish a joint venture to build data centers in Oslo, Norway. That said, ownership of the new company is split equally between Telenor, Hafslund, and HitechVision, each with 31.7 percent; Analysys Mason, a consulting agency specializing in telecom, holds the remaining five percent.

First, the two plan to build three multi-tenant colocation data centers in the Oslo region; these facilities will offer a combined capacity of 40MW. Construction of the first facility is set to begin later this year.

Finn Bjørn Ruyter, CEO of Hafslund, shared the facilities will be built with heat reuse capabilities and aid Oslo and Norway in meeting their climate goals. 

"Establishing these data centers will be an important contribution to enabling Norway's green transformation and digitalization. With solutions to reuse excess heat, the data centers will free up power consumption for heating and thus provide energy-efficient solutions necessary to reach Oslo's and Norway's climate goals", he said.

Sigve Brekke, CEO of Telenor, commented: "Data centers are, in many ways, the digital heart of any business. This is where the data flows to and from, which involves high quality, security, and energy efficiency requirements. Together with Hafslund and partners, we will now establish Norway's most secure commercial data center operator, with a strong focus on sustainable solutions."

"Backed by Norwegian-managed capital, this partnership will help resolve a significant issue in an increasingly digital society. Norwegian security authorities have requested the establishment of data centers and cloud services for sensitive information, functions, and infrastructure of importance to national security interests in Norway. By creating this company, we are facilitating that sensitive data across sectors is stored and delivered safely on Norwegian soil," Brekke added.