The Norwegian data center industry strengthens its joint cooperation and founds the business association Norwegian Data Center Industry. The founders of the association consist of leading operators in the Norwegian data center industry and the power companies Ringerikskraft and Statkraft. The association is placed under ICT-Norway and will strengthen the industry’s efforts for improved framework conditions and increased joint international marketing.

For the past year and a half, society has undergone a digitalization that no one could have imagined before the pandemic. The importance of data centers as pillars of the digital infrastructure and guarantors of secure access to digital services for the public and private sectors has become very clear during this period.

The Norwegian Data Center Industry will work to strengthen Norway’s position as a data center nation internationally, supported by the facts that Norway offers the highest share of renewable energy in Europe, with a very low climate footprint and the lowest electricity prices. In order to attract major international players to Norway the association will work with the following topics:

• Improved framework conditions for the data center sector
• Simplify procedures for construction and operation of large data centers
• Coordinate international marketing activities
• Contribute to more and better educational offerings within the data center sector
• Promote the use of sustainable technology and contribute to reaching the climate-neutrality objective

– Norway has all the prerequisites to become an attractive country to invest in a computerized business sector. The Norwegian data center industry has an untapped growth and value creation potential, set against a large and rapidly growing international market. The Norwegian Data Center Industry will be a key player in ensuring good growth conditions and framework conditions for the industry, and I am pleased with the opportunity to lead this work forward, says appointed General Manager Bjørn Rønning.

– The Norwegian Data Center Industry must be a clear voice in the public debate and must be an active driving force for necessary changes. To succeed, we need a clear, committed and well-composed executive board, with the necessary weight, breadth and experience. We’ve got it. I look forward to leading this board’s work in the future, says Chairman of the Board, Petter M. Tømmeraas.

– The Norwegian Data Center Industry is a unifying, proactive and important player for the Norwegian data center industry, and I am grateful to be part of the board and contribute to the work of promoting the industry’s place in Norwegian society, says Liv Freihow, ICT Norway.

– Invest in Norway, a section of Innovation Norway, is working to attract foreign investments in Norway, including in the data center industry. We are very positive to the formation of the Norwegian Data Center Industry, with the most mature players in Norway at the forefront. We look forward to a fruitful cooperation, says Benedicte Fasmer Waaler, special adviser, Invest in Norway.

The Executive Board of the Norwegian Data Center Industry consists of:

Chairman of the board: Petter M. Tømmeraas (Basefarm)

Board members:

Gisle Eckhoff (Bulk, from September 1)

Halvor Bjerke (DigiPlex)

Tor Kristian Gyland (Green Mountain)

Jørn Skaane (Lefdal Mine Datacenter)

Liv Freihow (ICT-Norway)

Kathrine Langjord (Statkraft).

About the Norwegian data center market:

The data center capacity in Norway has increased by 17 per cent per year since 2010. In 2020, approximately 145 MW of capacity was installed, and the capacity is expected to grow sharply in the years to come.

In the period 2019-2020, at least NOK 2.7 billion was invested in new data centers in Norway. The investments are driven by both Norwegian and international demand.

(Source: «Data centers in Norway. Impact analysis of completed and potential establishments», Implement Economics, 2020)

Lefdal Mine Datacenter secure funding agreement with UBS Asset Management to finance facility expansion.

Lefdal / London, May 31^st, 2021 – Lefdal Mine Datacenter (LMD) has secured funding to expand its facility to meet growing customer needs. The 5-year financing arrangement with UBS Asset Management’s Infrastructure Debt Platform, totalling EUR 50m, will support the expansion of the data center beyond the existing 20MW capacity.

LMD offers 120,000 m2 whitespace inside mountain halls across three levels in a former mine. Construction cost-per-MW is 30-50% lower than the industry standard, as well as providing leading natural security due to the mine’s infrastructure. Norway’s access to renewable power, low energy cost, favorable climate and developed infrastructure, as well as positive government policy, mean the country is regarded as one as one of the most attractive European locations for the development of data centers.

Jørn Skaane, CEO Lefdal Mine Datacenter, commented:

“We are pleased with the completion of this credit facility, which strengthens LMD’s financial position. This improves our ability to benefit from increased market demand and invest in growth opportunities in the years to come. We look forward to a good and long-term relationship with UBS Asset Management.”

Alessandro Merlo, Head of Investment, Infrastructure Debt at UBS-AM REPM, commented:

“Data centers are an attractive investment opportunity, which have further proved their importance and vital role for businesses during the pandemic crisis. We’re pleased to have worked with LMD to finance the unique development of this unique data center location. This transaction is the first investment for IDP in Norway and the third in the wider Nordic region – an important market for the platform. We are pleased to also support one of the greenest data centers in Europe with very limited environmental footprint and CO2 emissions, in line with our commitment to responsible investing in real assets.”

– Ends –

Notes and pictures to editors

ABOUT LEFDAL MINE DATACENTER

LMD is located in Norway and is owned by the Columbia Threadneedle European Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (ESIF), a mid-market infrastructure fund, and German Edge Cloud GmbH & CO KG, part of Friedhelm Loh Group, a German industrial conglomerate. The data center has a potential of 120.000 m2 of net whitespace and 200+ MW DC capacity. With 10 MW capacity already installed, LMD is one of the leading data centers in the Nordics. The mountain hall facility sets a new standard for the data center industry. LMD is unprecedented in terms of cost effectiveness, security, and flexibility. The large space, combined with modular design enables a unique time to market, and the combination of cheap and renewable power leads to predictable, low cost for customers.

www.lefdalmine.com and https://lefdal.netlify.app (360 tour)

ABOUT UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT

UBS Asset Management is a large-scale asset manager with a presence in 23 markets. It offers investment capabilities and investment styles across all major traditional and alternative asset classes to institutions, wholesale intermediaries and wealth management clients around the world. It is a leading fund house in Europe, the largest mutual fund manager in Switzerland, the second largest fund of hedge funds manager and one of the largest real estate investment managers in the world.

www.ubs.com/realestate

For more information, please contact us

Jørn Skaane

CEO – Lefdal Mine Datacenter AS

Mobile: +47 481 02 409

E-mail: jorn.skaane@lefdalmine.com

COLUMBIA THREADNEEDLE EUROPEAN SUSTAINABLE INFRASTRUCTURE FUND ACQUIRES INNOVATIVE ‘GREEN’ DATA CENTRE IN NORWAY

LONDON, 6 May 2020: The Columbia Threadneedle European Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (ESIF) announces that it has acquired a majority stake in Lefdal Mine Datacenter (LMD), a unique ‘green’ data centre based in an underground mine in Norway, that uses cold sea water from an adjacent fjord for cooling and renewable energy to power its operations. Rittal, a subsidiary of the German industrial family business, Friedhelm Loh Group, will remain a minority shareholder.

Operational since 2017, the facility boasts 75 underground halls, with data centre containers parked in former mine workings that are accessed by underground roads. The centre benefits from high-density data capacity and has a market-leading total cost of operation, which is attractive to clients with high-performance computing workloads, hyperscalers, as well as customers looking for colocation solutions.

The data centre market is set to grow rapidly over the next decade as operators meet the large growth in demand due to the rise of cloud computing, artificial intelligence and the “Internet of Things”. With currently 10 megawatts in operation, the data centre has potential to expand to 200 megawatts in the future. LMD’s cost base is stable and as data centre capacity can be built out on a modular basis as and when required, there is flexibility with capex deployment.

The majority stake has been acquired from a consortium of local shareholders in a transaction which, together with Rittal, facilitates further investment and capacity expansion.

Heiko Schupp, Global Head of Infrastructure at Columbia Threadneedle Investments, said: “We are excited to announce this new investment of ESIF, our open-ended, evergreen fund that invests in European mid-market equity assets. Lefdal Mine Datacenter is an attractive asset for ESIF due to its strong market fundamentals, competitive positioning and the level of sustainability within its operations.

“With its potential to build out data capacity, we believe the company is well positioned to participate in the growth of demand for data, and the potential for capital growth makes the company a good fit for ESIF’s investment strategy. We look forward to a successful working relationship with the management team at Lefdal Mine Datacenter and our partners and participating in the centre’s next stage of expansion.”

Jørn Skaane, CEO Lefdal Mining Datacenter, commented: “With its 10 megawatts of installed capacity, Lefdal Mine Datacenter has been in the early stages of developing the facility into a world leading data centre. With ESIF coming in as a shareholder together with Rittal, the stage has been set for building out and operating large customer requirements. At Lefdal Mine Datacenter, customers do not have to worry about limitations in future capacity due to the size of our facility and access to high quantities of renewable power and cooling.”

Dr. Karl-Ulrich Köhler, CEO of Rittal, said: “As a technology partner, Rittal provides preconfigured, modular and scalable infrastructure for this innovative data centre. We believe the technology used at Lefdal Mine Datacentre sets a new standard. In particular, our German private cloud provider German Edge Cloud has been able to leverage Lefdal Mine Datacenter by offloading energy intensive industrial IT workloads from the edge to the centre. Processes such as machine learning and HPC originating from edge services in the European industry are better processed at Lefdal Mine Datacenter, where high densities can be run in a highly cost-effective way.”

Sindre Kvalheim, CEO LocalHost group and former COB Lefdal Mine Datacenter, said: “The former Norwegian owners, with Måløy based LocalHost group in the lead, initiated Lefdal Mine Datacenter in 2009 together with local utility company Sogn og Fjordane Energi. This group of investors now see that Lefdal Mine Datacenter needs a different owner structure to lift the data centre to its full potential. The LocalHost group has incubated several tech companies, invested more than 60 Mill Euro, and created over 100 jobs over the last ten years. This sale allows us to continue to invest in the region.”

Linda Hofstad Helleland, Norwegian Minister of Regional Development and Digitalisation, commented: “The Government wants Norway to be an attractive nation for data centres. This represents a major economic opportunity for Norwegian businesses and society, and will be a key to the Government’s policies and priorities going forward. We welcome all actors willing to invest in new technologies that may contribute to sustainable growth in the Norwegian society.”

ESIF’s financial advisers were DNB Markets and Wikborg Rein acted as legal advisers. For Lefdal Mine Datacenter and its shareholders, Pareto Securities AS acted as financial advisers and CLP DA as legal advisers.

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For media enquiries contact:

Columbia Threadneedle Investments
Wendy Svirakova / Nicolas Duperrier
Tel: 0207 464 5697 /5940
Email: firstname.lastname@columbiathreadneedle.com

 

Lefdal Mine Datacenter
Jørn Skaane
CEO – Lefdal Mine Datacenter AS
Mobile: +47 481 02 409
E-mail: jorn.skaane@lefdalmine.com

 

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Notes to Editors

About Columbia Threadneedle Investments

Columbia Threadneedle Investments is a leading global asset manager that provides a broad range of actively managed investment strategies and solutions for individual, institutional and corporate clients around the world. With more than 2000 people including over 450 investment professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia, we manage £373 billion¹ of assets across developed and emerging market equities, fixed income, asset allocation solutions and alternatives.

Our priority is the investment success of our clients. We know investors want strong and repeatable risk-adjusted returns and we aim to deliver this through an active and consistent investment approach that is team-based, risk-aware and performance-driven. Our investment teams around the world work together to uncover investment insights. By sharing knowledge across asset classes and geographies we generate richer perspectives on global, regional and local investment landscapes. The ability to exchange and debate investment ideas in a collaborative environment enriches our teams’ investment processes to ensure the best insights are applied to portfolios. More importantly it results in better informed decisions for our clients.

Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global asset management group of Ameriprise Financial, Inc. (NYSE:AMP), a leading US-based financial services provider. As part of Ameriprise, we are supported by a large and well-capitalised diversified financial services firm.

Source: Columbia Threadneedle Investments as at 31 December 2019.

¹ Ameriprise Financial, Inc. Q4 2019 earnings release.

www.columbiathreadneedle.com

Past performance is not a guide to future performance.

The value of investments and any income is not guaranteed and can go down as well as up and may be affected by exchange rate fluctuations. This means that an investor may not get back the amount invested.

This material is for information only and does not constitute an offer or solicitation of an order to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments, or to provide investment advice or services.

Issued by Threadneedle Asset Management Limited. Registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 573204, Cannon Place, 78 Cannon Street, London EC4N 6AG, United Kingdom. Authorised and regulated in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Columbia Threadneedle Investments is the global brand name of the Columbia and Threadneedle group of companies.

About Lefdal Mine Datacenter

Lefdal Mine Datacenter, based in Måløy in Norway, is owned by Columbia Threadneedle Investments and Rittal.

LMD has completed the build out of Phase 1, and a cooling capacity of 45 MW is ready for use. The data center has a potential of 120.000 m2 of net whitespace and 200+ MW DC capacity. LMD has in 2018 and in 2019 installed 10 MW of data center capacity. LMD has proven to the market the capability of implementing a TIER III certified design with a unique low investment per MW. The design approach is industrialized and has a built-in flexibility that makes it possible to accommodate variations in both power requirements per unit, as well as different quality requirements/Tier levels. The mountain hall facility sets a new standard for the data center industry. LMD is unprecedented in terms of cost effectiveness, security, and flexibility. The large space, combined with modular design enables a unique time to market, and the combination of cheap and renewable power leads to predictable, low cost for customers.

For more information, visit www.lefdalmine.com.

About Rittal

Rittal, headquartered in Herborn, Germany, is a leading global provider of solutions for industrial enclosures, power distribution, climate control and IT infrastructure, as well as software and services. Systems made by Rittal can be found in more than 90 percent of all global branches of industry, including mechanical and plant engineering, food and beverage production and in IT and telecommunications.

The international market leader’s product portfolio includes configurable enclosures, with data available across the entire production process. Smart Rittal cooling systems, with up to 75 percent lower power and high CO2 advantage, can communicate with the production landscape, enabling predictive maintenance and servicing. The offering also includes innovative IT products, from IT racks and modular data centers, to edge and hyperscale computing solutions.

Founded in 1961, Rittal is the largest company in the owner operated Friedhelm Loh Group. The Friedhelm Loh Group is active worldwide, with 18 production sites and 80 international subsidiaries. It has approximately 12,000 employees and posted revenues of €2.6 billion in fiscal 2018.

For more information, visit www.rittal.com and www.friedhelm-loh-group.com.

Lefdal Mine Datacenter has signed a 3 MW contract with iNNOVO Cloud GmbH. In addition, Fortuitus AG has increased their contract announced earlier this year, to 5 MW.

 

iNNOVO CLOUD – 3 MW HPC APPLICATIONS

The first iNNOVO Cloud container is already active in Lefdal Mine Datacenter. Due to its efficient design, the BCC IT Container from Rittal has an advantage that it is particularly suitable for applications requiring high energy density per rack. This also includes HPC applications such as Hashing as a Service.

With regards to Hashing Services and the underlying blockchain technology, Stefan Sickenberger – CIO at iNNOVO Cloud – emphasizes: “The blockchain holds an enormous potential for the future and for almost every branch of industry. Hashing as a Service for cryptocurrencies is just one of many possible applications that we already operate for some of our customers”. He sees block chain technology as a massive contribution to IT security. “Blockchain technology has the potential to establish a new standard in IT security. We are already working with partners on proof of concepts for the use of Blockchain technology in the Industrial Internet of Things area, says Sickenberger”.

“One of the advantages at Lefdal Mine Datacenter is that we are free to choose which DC TIER Level we need. This gives a huge flexibility with regards to underlying business models and cost calculations, since we can use a lower DC TIER for low SLAs and higher DC TIERs for high SLAs”, says Sickenberger”.

 

FORTUITUS – 5 MW

Fortuitus AG, a Swiss technical infrastructure project financing company, is now installing 5 MW of HPC infrastructure into Lefdal Mine Datacenter. The installations will support FinTech applications for European customers.

“Lefdal Mine Datacenter is the most cost-efficient data center we have found. In addition, they offer an unprecedented scalability where we can add large scale capacity in a short period of time says Mark Collins, CEO of Fortuitus. We look forward to sign up for more capacity as our demand increase”.

 

LEFDAL MINE DATACENTER

Lefdal Mine Datacenter – The Norwegian Solution – opened in May 2017. “We are experiencing a massive interest in our product, says Jørn Skaane, CEO at Lefdal Mine Datacenter. The combination of high security, low cost, scalability and green solutions have put us on the international radar. Fortuitus and iNNOVO Cloud are two highly innovative organizations, and we are proud that they have chosen Lefdal Mine Datacenter to host their infrastructure, says Jørn Skaane.

For more information, see contact information below – or visit www.lefdalmine.com.

Best regards,
Jørn Skaane
Managing Director – Lefdal Mine Datacenter AS
Mobile: +47 481 02 409
E-mail: jorn.skaane@lefdalmine.com

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION – PLEASE CONTACT:
Mats Andersson
Marketing Director – Lefdal Mine Datacenter AS
Mobile: +47 416 96 496
E-mail: mats.andersson@lefdalmine.com

 

ABOUT LEFDAL MINE DATACENTER

Lefdal Mine Datacenter has completed the build out of Phase 1, and a cooling capacity of 45 MW is ready for use. The data center has a potential of 120.000 m2 of net whitespace and 200+ MW IT capacity. The mountain hall facility sets a new standard for the data center industry. Lefdal Mine Datacenter is unprecedented in terms of cost effectiveness, security, and flexibility. The large space, combined with modular design enables a unique time to market, and the combination of cheap and renewable power leads to predictable, low cost for customers. The technical solution is developed together with technology partners Rittal and IBM and capacity can be delivered in either container solutions or traditional white space. Lefdal Mine Datacenter will be one of Europe’s most secure data centers. They offer a Tier III data center service. The data is protected inside EMP secure mountain halls. The facility has access from two single points of entry. This offers a high level of natural security and access control. The design and documentation of infrastructure installations are highly confidential and there is specially trained security staff onsite 24/7.