Briefly, Google plans to establish a new data center in Skien, which could become one of the largest in the world. This data center will have a great need for electricity, and Google has ambitions to cover this need with renewable energy. Google has already invested in a wind power plant in Norway, but will need even more renewable energy to cover the power needs of the new data center. This could lead to massive development of wind and solar power in Norway. There is nevertheless opposition to local wind power development in Skien, where the data center will be located. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content has been reviewed by news’s journalists before publication. Google has an ambition to become emission-free by 2030. On the site of the data center, Google talks about how they will cut emissions by, among other things, investing in renewable power generation. – It must be clean energy. Sun and wind are the obvious power sources. We are also looking at other technological possibilities, says Niels Martin Andersen, who is head of Google’s data center in Norway. The data center in Skien could become one of the largest in the world. Google is investing almost NOK 7 billion and the plan is to put the center into operation in 2026. Niels Martin Andersen is Google’s political head of data centers in the Nordics. Image is from the Google site at Gromstul in Skien. Photo: Theo Aasland Valen / news Enormous need for power If Google builds at full scale, it may require enormous amounts of power. Statnett confirms to news that Google has applied for access to 840 megawatts. – I have never heard of a data center that comes close to using so much electricity, says chief analyst at StormGeo Sigbjørn Seland. Google also wants to cover its own power needs in countries where it has data centers. In Denmark, they operate like this today: Over 200 wind turbines Google has already invested in a wind power plant in Norway. This is located in Tellenes in Rogaland, and ensures access to 160MW. This means that they need 680MW to be self-sufficient in the same way as they are in Denmark. This corresponds to over 230 wind turbines. The figure depends on how much power the turbines have. The figure is based on calculations and information from NVE. By comparison, one of Norway’s largest wind power plants, Storheia in Trøndelag, has 80 turbines. The turbines at Storheia also have a smaller effect than what NVE uses as a basis in the calculation. If one were to exclusively produce the current with ground-mounted solar power, more than 8,500 football pitches with solar panels would be required. It is almost 35 times the size of central Oslo. The figure is based on calculations and information from NVE. These numbers have been used by news based on the fact that Google’s data center in Skien could potentially need an output of 840 MW. Google states that they have already entered into an agreement with a wind power plant in Rogaland which guarantees them access to 160 MW. Norway’s Directorate of Water Resources and Energy (NVE) reckons that a data center can draw maximum power 80 percent of the year. The data center then uses approximately 5,886 GWh. Estimates from NVE show that a 6MW wind turbine can produce 20.4 GWh at full power. That amounts to over 230 wind turbines if one is to produce the power Google needs. Then news has drawn from the electricity production at the wind power plant in Tellenes in Rogaland. NVE believes that it is natural to envisage that any future wind turbines will have an effect of 6-8MW. Based on reported needs, NVE reckons that 1MWp of installed power from ground-mounted solar power in southern Norway yields around 1GWh in electricity production per year. Google has already invested in a wind power plant in Rogaland. The plant has 50 turbines. Photo: Øystein Otterdal / Øystein Otterdal Press on power production Leader of the main committee for industry, industry and climate in Telemark county municipality, Ådne Naper (SV) is happy to hear that Google will invest in renewable power production. He believes the Google establishment will force wind turbines and solar panels. – Somewhere or other the power must be produced, says Naper. Head of Norway at Google, Tine Austvoll Jensen and Karianne Oldernes Tung (minister for digitalisation) at the Google site in Skien. Photo: Theo Aasland Valen / news The Straumanalytikaren in StormGeo believes that the pressure to build wind and solar power will increase when Google arrives. – An establishment like this will make the development of renewable power production more profitable, says Seland. FRP believes it is naive to believe that Google’s need for power will be met with wind and solar. They ask Google to think differently. – Google should go for nuclear power. It is the most optimal in terms of area, regulation and effect, says Marius Nilsen, who sits on the energy committee at the Storting. No to wind power in Skien The power Google needs does not seem to be produced locally any time soon. In Skien, mayor Marius Roheim Aarvoll (H) has made an agreement with INP that no wind power will be built in the municipality for the next four years. – We have an agreement that there will be no wind power in Skien for the next four years. So there is room for action there that I have to exploit. Aarvoll put their trust primarily in solar power. In the long term, he will also install wind turbines. The industry in Grenland is also crying out for more power. They hope that the Google establishment will lead to more power production in the long term. – I hope it starts a discussion. We need more current and greater network capacity, says the Yara manager on Herøya, Ole-Jacob Siljan. Ole-Jacob Siljan is factory manager at Yara Porsgrunn. They want to electrify their production and need a lot of electricity. Photo: Roald Marker / news
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Google’s data center in Norway could lead to massive development of wind and solar power – news Vestfold and Telemark – Local news, TV and radio
