atNorth announces heat reuse enabled mega data centre

Author: Carly Weller

atNorth has announced plans to build its largest data centre to date in the town of Ølgod in Varde Denmark. The site, to be known as DEN02, will cater to both colocation and build-to-suit projects and will be specifically designed for data-intensive businesses such as hyperscalers and companies that run AI and High-Performance Computing workloads.

The DEN02 campus is a 174ha greenfield site located 40km west of Billund Airport and will have an initial capacity of 250MW with a path to power of several hundred megawatts.  DEN02 will be built in line with demand as part of atNorth’s modular approach to data centre construction. The site’s location is advantageous due to its excellent connectivity resulting from the many trans-Atlantic fibre cables that have landing stations on the nearby west coast of the country.

“Our DEN02 site is truly a blueprint for future data centres,” comments atNorth’s CEO, Eyjolfur Magnus Kristinsson. “The highly energy efficient design, including its state-of-the-art heat reuse technologies, coupled with the advantageous location in Denmark and our dedication to sustainability, exemplifies innovation in our industry. It will be an ideal location for hyperscalers and AI businesses looking to decarbonise their high-performance workloads.”

As part of its overall expansion strategy, atNorth is committed to including circular economy principles as a core component and as such, has already signed a collaborative agreement with Wa3rm – a leader in the development of circular and bio-based operations for waste streams. The partnership will enable the recycling of excess heat from the new campus for use in large scale greenhouses for vegetable production. The site will also be equipped to provide heating and hot water for local communities via the district heating supplier.

“We are delighted to partner with atNorth in a shared commitment to a circular economy,” says Jacques Ejlerskov, CEO at Wa3rm. “State-of-the-art data centres such as DEN02 have the ability to significantly contribute to increased circularity through re-use of resources such as excess heat, and with atNorth we have found a partner that shares our vision of ‘bringing waste to life’.”

Additionally, atNorth is pursuing the possibility of attracting sustainable power production in the form of wind and solar energy farms around the DEN02 site.

The DEN02 site is atNorth’s second data centre in Denmark. Its first site, DEN01, is located near Ballerup, and will have a 30MW capacity and is due to open by Q2 2025.

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