Intelligent Data Centres Issue 25 | Page 49

THE COUNTRY
PRODUCES MORE POWER THAN IT CONSUMES ,
PROVIDING CAPACITY FOR
BUSINESSES
TO EXPAND THEIR DIGITAL CAPABILITIES .
FEATURE

THE COUNTRY

PRODUCES MORE POWER THAN IT CONSUMES ,

PROVIDING CAPACITY FOR

BUSINESSES

TO EXPAND THEIR DIGITAL CAPABILITIES .

When you think of Norway , what

comes to mind ? It might be
Vikings or fjords , snow or the country ’ s excellence in winter sports . What is unlikely to be an image you have of Norway is its data centre industry , but it is booming .
As businesses are willing to go further afield to find the right colocation partner , Norway presents a very appealing offer . It provides one of the best answers to the question of sustainability . Regulations make it easy to do business in the country and power costs can be kept low due to Norway ’ s cold climate . Despite this , one big factor that has to be included in any colocation decision is connectivity – how are you going to get data back and forth between data centres and the clouds you ’ re using ?
Why Norway is seeing a demand
From the European Commission ’ s call for countries to help tackle global issues in sustainability and development , to green initiatives from large technology hyperscalers like Amazon and Microsoft , sustainability is quickly moving to the top of the agenda for many businesses .
For IT to help achieve these sustainability goals , thinking about how they manage their data centres is a big factor . Data centres are often considered one of the heaviest energy consumers in technology , and according to the IEA , data centres account for 1 % of the global electricity demand .
So , finding ways to minimise energy consumption in data centres is key to helping businesses achieve their sustainability initiatives and is the reason why Norway presents an ideal location to host their workloads . Norway is one of the few countries in the EU with 100 % renewable energy production , which means that businesses can power their data centres on renewable energy .
Additionally , Norway as a country has a surplus of power . The country produces more power than it consumes , providing capacity for businesses to expand their digital capabilities – something that other locations may not be able to offer .
For example , authorities in Amsterdam banned new data centre builds during 2019 , fearing the extra load they ’ d place on the city ’ s electrical grid .
Another reason why businesses are moving their workloads to Norway is the opportunity to keep costs low . Norway ’ s naturally cold climate means that colocation providers have lower cooling costs and these savings made by providers can also be passed onto businesses renting these facilities .
Furthermore , Norway has the lowest cost of power in Europe . This means that businesses hosting workloads there can save € 2.5 – 3 million per MW of capacity per year , compared to colocating in Germany , for example .
Finally , Norway makes it easy to connect to other countries in Europe . For instance , a roundtrip from data centres in Norway to Frankfurt can take less than 20ms .
Also , data centres in Norway don ’ t need to pay tax on their equipment , which means businesses colocating in Norway don ’ t have to pay tax costs and admin fees .
Cloud connectivity remains front of mind
While Norway ticks many of the colocation boxes , one big area that organisations need to plan for is connectivity to and from the cloud , with built-in flexibility for future plans . www . intelligentdatacentres . com
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