Facebook first decided to establish a data center in Sweden in 2011, where Facebook have invested 1.2 bn USD to date. When the new data center goes operational in 2021, the Luleå campus will be more than 100 000 m2/1 million sq ft. This will make it one of the largest data centers in the world.
- Facebook’s decision to expand their Luleå site confirms that Sweden has the best possible conditions to operate large-scale data centers. This demonstrates that we deliver on high expectations from global investors. It has been an amazing journey to work with Facebook and Luleå to help create one of the largest and most energy-efficient data centers in the world, says Tomas Sokolnicki, Head of Data Centers by Sweden at Business Sweden.
Sweden has a long industrial tradition where the need for power has been crucial to operate its mission-critical industries. Sweden's secure and reliable infrastructure and production have developed over a long time, making Sweden fit for the digital era in a way that few other countries can match.
Other hyperscalers are also on their way. Amazon Web Services are about to finalize the construction of three data centers in the Stockholm region and work is ongoing on the 109 ha land plot acquired by Google to prepare for a potential data center project.
Sweden’s unique combination of low power costs, together with a strong renewable energy production, a near zero-carbon footprint and robust fiber connectivity makes it one of Europe’s most ideal locations for data centers to invest and expand their operations.
- Data center investors are attracted to Sweden’s robust power grid, our fibre network and renewable energy. After the cost of electricity for data centers was dramatically lowered last year, interest from all kinds of data center operators, from high performance computing to colocation has reached an all-time high, says Tomas Sokolnicki.
The data center industry in Sweden is currently growing at an estimated 14% per year, and is expected to employ 30 000 people in 2025.