While Facebook goes ahead with its third data centre building, AWS is preparing the opening of three data centres in Stockholm and Google continues to clear its recently purchased 109-acre site in Avesta.
Facebook is kicking off the fifth anniversary celebrations of its Luleå Data Center being online by announcing another expansion at the site which will bring the total capital expenditure in the Swedish campus to 8.7 billion SEK, or $1bn.

The expansion, unveiled nowhere else other than through a Facebook post, will come in the form of a third building which will measure nearly 50,000 sqm. The social media giant expects the site to be fully operational by 2021.

In the post it reads: “In Luleå there is a strong local commitment to creating new opportunities – something that we have experienced first-hand through our Community Action Grant Program where we have been able to contribute with more than 4 million SEK to nearly 50 projects within the Luleå Municipality.

“We want to be a positive part of the local community, and it has been highly rewarding to see how these grants put the power of technology to use for the community’s benefit, help improve education at all levels, and encourage the community to participate in local activities.

“We are excited to deepen our local investment and continue to be thankful to Luleå and Sweden for their ongoing support of the Luleå Data Center. We have made Luleå our home, and we are proud to be a part of such a great community.”

Facebook’s decision to settle a base in Sweden and the wider Nordic region has been followed by a wave of investment from other hyperscalers such as Alibaba and AWS, which is concluding three new data centre sites in Stockholm. Work is also ongoing on the 109ha land plot acquired by Google to prepare for a potential data centre project.

Tomas Sokolnicki, Senior Investment Advisor, Data Centers by Sweden, told Data Economy: “We’ve just seen the beginning [of this hyperscalers moving into Sweden]. There doesn’t seem to be any slowing down of the market, the requirements keep going up in terms of size and power requirements.

“Interesting moves also by other IT, HPC and blockchain players wanting to create some sort of ”second generation” expansion for themselves, more sustainable. Huge interest – now substantial – around heat reuse, and the real business and technology-oriented solutions.

“We are finding lots of interest, people realizing that what has taken Sweden 50 years to build up cannot be easily replicated.”

Also commenting, Patrik Öhlund, CEO of Node Pole, said: “Sweden and the Nordics have once again shown that we are a prime location for energy-intensive industries.

“The combination of strong connectivity, vast amounts of affordable, renewable energy, innovation capability and a cool climate makes us a leading hyperscale cluster globally.”

Source: Data Economy
Article: https://data-economy.com/facebook-celebrates-lulea-data-centre-anniversary-with-new-expansion-taking-capex-in-sweden-to-1bn/