A total of NOK 29 billion is being invested in a new data center on a plot of land between Hamar and Løten. The center will house TikTok and has received a lot of criticism for posing a security risk. The company behind the data center says the facility will lead to around 300 new jobs and that they are utilizing surplus power. – There is a power surplus in the region. They use approx. seven terawatts of electricity in the region and has 11 terawatts of production, says Svein Atle Hagaseth who is CEO of Green Mountain. The LO Confederation Industri Energi strongly disagrees with this statement. They believe the data center is seizing a disproportionate amount of Norwegian power. news explains: What is the matter with the data center in Hamar/Løten? LO confederation strongly critical of power consumption – They want to take power that will be in short supply for the production of something that is not useful to society, says Frode Alfheim, confederation leader in Industry energy. According to Green Mountain itself, the data center will have a capacity of 150 megawatts of electricity per year. This corresponds to almost 1 per cent of the power consumption in this country, statistics from Statnett show. In 2021, Norwegian private individuals and industry used almost 140 terawatts of electricity. NVE estimates that both price and consumption will increase towards 2040. – We believe they will take power which will be in short supply. We must use the power we have to create employment and value creation, says Alfheim. He also believes that the data center will provide nearly as many jobs as they promise, and that it will not provide export income. – All data centers that we have looked at say that they need one to two employees. This is about centers that stand and go automatically by themselves. I don’t buy that employment effect, says the union leader. He believes the government should give clear management signals to those who allocate power and networks that they must prioritize the projects correctly. The Minister of Oil and Energy sees challenges Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (A) is clear that the plant’s power use must underpin the industry while at the same time ensuring supply stability and prices. – A power deficit is predicted in five years. How wise is it then to invite data centres? – I see that there are certain challenges when we get large connection points. We must ensure that we facilitate both industrial possibilities and data storage. We must use energy sensibly and make arrangements so that we can do this in a good way going forward, says the minister. POSITIVE: Aasland thinks it is positive that Norway is an attractive country to invest in. At the same time, he sees the challenge of creating a balance between available energy and consumption. Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB When asked by news whether it is time to discuss who gets access to power in Norway, Aasland says that the government is now discussing the topic. – We are clear that there is a shortage of internet access in Norway and that means that in addition to maturity criteria, we must have some other criteria to prioritize the internet. When Google established itself in Skien in 2021, power analysts feared it could lead to the country’s power surplus being used up: Green Mountain believes they fulfill the government’s strategy The establishment of the data center in Hamar comes after the government has made data storage a focus area and has lured with both cheap electricity and good framework conditions. Already in 2018, the then Minister of Industry Torbjørn Røe Isaksen (H) presented the government’s data center strategy at Green Mountain’s center on Rennesøy outside Stavanger. – This is proof that that strategy has worked, says Hagaseth. He points out that the company has chosen to establish itself in Hamar because of the access to electricity and because the municipalities have provided good framework conditions for the project. WELCOME: Hamar’s mayor Einar Busterud welcomed the head of Green Mountain, Svein Atle Hagaseth, to Hamar yesterday when the company presented its plans. Photo: Lars Erik Skrefsrud / news Hamar and Løten municipalities approved the development of the computer facility last autumn. Hamar mayor Einar Busterud (BBL) says the municipality welcomes the center because he believes it will generate many jobs. – We have contracted a minimum staffing of 350, he tells news. The government has a strategy to get as many data centers as possible to the country:
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Data center will use enormous amounts of electricity – LO confederation reacts – news Innlandet – Local news, TV and radio
