A consortium of Swedish companies has partnered to explore the development of Sweden’s first nuclear-powered data centers.
Blykalla, an advanced nuclear developer, Evroc, a hyperscale and cloud data center developer, and Studsvik, a nuclear power services provider, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore the construction of a data center at Studsvik’s licensed nuclear site in Nyköping, Sweden.
“This collaboration is an opportunity for Sweden to be a leader in digital infrastructure. lt allows us to demonstrate how SMRs can provide the stable, fossil-free energy that is required for the AI revolution,” said Jacob Stedman, CEO of Blykalla. “Studsvik’s site and Evroc’s ambitions offer the right conditions for a groundbreaking project.”
The MoU aims to assess the commercial and technical viability of co-locating data centers and small modular reactors (SMRs) at the Studsvik site, engage with municipalities and landowners, and define what a future commercial power purchase agreement structure could look like.
Following the signing of the MoU, the partners will establish a joint steering committee to evaluate the site and business model, with the aim of entering formal partnership negotiations later this year.
“The ever-growing demand for AI underscores the urgent need to rapidly deploy massive hyperscale AI infrastructure. Through our collaboration with Blykalla and Studsvik, we are exploring a model where Sweden can lead in building climate-neutral digital infrastructure,” commented Mattias Åström, founder and CEO of Evroc.
Blykalla is currently developing an SMR unit, known as the Swedish Advanced Lead Reactor (SEALER). The SEALER reactor is a lead-cooled Generation IV SMR, with a proposed output of 55MW and fuel residence time of 25 years. According to the company, it expects to start serial production of the SMR in the early 2030s.
According to Studsvik, its Nyköping site is well-suited for nuclear development, as it contains the specialized infrastructure required for nuclear activities. Until 2005, the site was home to a research reactor. Recently, Studsvik indicated its interest in adapting the site to include SMRs and other new reactor types, culminating in the signing of the MoU. As part of the potential deployment, Studsvik’s deployment role would be to make land available for the SMRs.
Evroc, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is a sovereign cloud provider offering compute, storage, and networking services to customers. In addition to its Stockholm head office, the company has “development offices” in Sophia Antipolis, France, and London, UK. By 2030, Evroc aims to operate ten hyperscale data centers.
While the majority of SMR deals with data center providers have taken place in the US market, the technology has begun to gain traction in the European market. In March, European data center firm Data4 inked a MoU to explore the use of Westinghouse Electric Company’s AP300 SMR to power future data centers in Europe.
Following this, global colo developer Equinix signed two deals within the European market. It’s first was with Dutch power provider ULC-Energy for a Power Purchase Agreement of up to 250MWe to power its data centers in the Netherlands. The second was with Stellaria, a French nuclear company, for 500MW to supply data centers across Europe.
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