Facebook expands Swedish hyperscale data centre
Tue 8 May 2018
Facebook has announced that it is expanding its hyperscale data centre in Lulea, which will become one of the world’s largest when work is complete.
On the fifth anniversary of the initial construction, which was the social media giant’s first data centre outside of the U.S., Facebook has announced that it will be adding a 50,000 sq. metre server hall.
This will be the third hall at the site and will bring its total size to more than a million square feet. The decision will bring further recognition and investment to the Nordics, which has already established itself as a prime destination for data centre builders.
Facebook has played a large part in this Nordic revolution, with the construction of the site in Lulea in 2013 being one of the first major projects from a foreign company in the area. Now with the third building at the Facebook site, which will serve internet traffic by 2021, total cumulative investment in the region has come to approximately £730 million.
Node Pole, a Swedish investment and development hub which promotes the cloud industry and energy-intensive industries, praised the decision. Patrik Öhlund, CEO of Node Pole, said: “Sweden and the Nordics have once again shown that we are a prime location for energy-intensive industries.
“The combination of strong connectivity, vast amounts of affordable, renewable energy, innovation capability and a cool climate makes us a leading hyperscale cluster globally.”
Sweden is also a particularly attractive proposition for data centre operators thanks to its low energy prices. The Swedish government last year slashed the tax rate on electricity for data centres by 97%, to match other industries like steel and car manufacturing. This, according to Node Pole, was out of a recognition of data centres as an ’emerging base industry.’ As a result of this, Sweden now has the lowest energy costs in the EU.
The renewed project will also bring increased employment to the area. According to Lulea mayor, the expansion will add around 100 new jobs at the data centre, which has already put around 200 people into work.
