– This will be Norway’s largest land-based industrial investment of all time, says CEO of Green Mountain, Svein Atle Hagaseth. At Kalberg in Time municipality, the company will build what could become Norway’s largest data center facility. And today they submitted a dispensation application to the municipality to start the construction of the first stage. Svein Atle Hagaseth is managing director of Green mountain. Photo: Green Mountain The company says that they are in dialogue with a large international customer who wants to establish themselves in the vicinity of the new Fagrafjell transformer station, an important electricity hub. Green Mountain will not say who this customer is. But we are talking about one of the world’s 20 largest technology companies and it is not Asian. In total, more than NOK 50 billion will be invested. Green Mountain and the customer are responsible for half each. Why Kalberg? Kalberg is considered a very favorable location for power-intensive industry. Statnett is building a large transformer station at Fagrafjell, which is also located in Time municipality. Thus, nearby plots of land on Kalberg become the place in Norway with the best security of supply. Data centers also produce waste heat. Supporters of the development hope that Kalberg can become a circular industrial area, where agricultural industries such as biogas plants, greenhouses and farming can benefit from the surplus heat from the computers. – Will provide at least 500 man-years in 2027. The customer wants the first construction phase to be completed by January 2025 at the latest. While the last construction phase must be completed in 2027. And when the plant is finished, Green Mountain guarantees that there will be 500 man-years in connection with the data center. – If there are no more than 500 permanent employees at the data centre, we are willing to pay fines to Time municipality, Hagaseth said at the press conference on Monday. – There has been much discussion about how many jobs data centers provide. With Green Mountain’s plans, there is no doubt that this establishment will become the largest workplace in Time municipality in the coming years, says the mayor of Time, Andreas Vollsund i Høgre. Mayor of Time municipality, Andreas Vollsund (H), in Kalberg. Photo: Willem Leendertse / news Building on topsoil It was the summer of 2021 that a narrow majority in Time municipal council agreed to open a data center and power-intensive industry in Kalberg. The area that was opened up for industry consists of 1,200 acres of arable land, 284 of which are fully cultivated. And there were big protests ahead. The desire for more jobs trumps land conservation, but how many jobs it will create is something that has been hotly debated. In 2020, among other things, Lyse said that there could be as much as 60,000 man-years over ten years. Now there will therefore be a minimum of 500 man-years, if the plans are realised. But the area that they now want to build on is 257 acres of fully cultivated arable land. And it is far from everyone who rejoices over today’s news. – Don’t want to pay for the land – It was big news, but not with a positive sign, says farmer Anne Frøyland Grødem. She owns land close to where the data center can be built. She herself said no to 150 million kroner, when she received an offer to sell her own land to the industry. The head of Vern Kvernaland, Anne Frøyland Grødem, is not happy about the news that came today. Photo: Arild Eskeland / news – I see no reason to cheer for this. Because no matter what amount you come up with, it does not pay for taking land that is used for food production. And that is something we need going forward to strengthen our preparedness and self-sufficiency, says Grødem. Today, she is the leader of the action group Vern Kvernaland, which over several years has fought against the plans for a data center and power-intensive industry in Kalberg. Storting representative from SV, Ingrid Fiskaa is herself from Time and she thinks the plans are very bad news both for a region where electricity prices are all high and for soil conservation. Ingrid Fiskaa is a parliamentary representative for SV. Photo: William Jobling / news – It is dramatic at a time when self-sufficiency must increase. And the parties that support this will lose any remaining credibility when it comes to the protection of arable land, says Fiskaa. Will take measures to increase food production – I am now moving the land to another farmer nearby. So we take care of the earth and will ensure that it is one of the world’s most sustainable data centres, says Hagaseth in Green Mountain. In addition, they also have plans to use the surplus heat from the data center for food production in greenhouses. – The most important thing for me is that we increase food production and that is what I am doing with this project. Here you can get more food production, take care of the earth and, not least, create a huge amount of jobs, says Time mayor, Andreas Vollsund. But who this customer is, who will create these jobs, the politicians in the municipality will probably not know until they have made a decision. That does not worry the mayor, however. – When they start with the fact that it is a top 20 technology company in the world, then it is a serious company that is coming. Wants quick processing in the municipal council Green Mountain wants the municipality to process the dispensation application quickly, and that a decision be made towards the end of November, so that they can start the development soon after. And Vollsund hopes for a positive decision in the municipal council within a short time. – If the majority in the municipal council is in favor of a dispensation, this will have great significance for building new green industry in the region, says Vollsund. Ingrid Fiskaa in SV, on the other hand, does not think the last word has been said. – There are great values in this area that are in use and an attempt to almost overthrow the democratic process in order to get this through at express speed, I do not believe that, says the representative of the Storting.
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Will invest NOK 50 billion in data center at Kalberg i Time – news Rogaland – Local news, TV and radio
