Google is exploring the possibility of establishing a data center in Valer, Norway.

Shared by the Kommune of Valer, details about the potential data center remain sparse, but it would be located at Gylderåsen.

According to the Kommune of Valer, the project finds its origins in a 2017 feasibility study by Cowi and Smart Innovation Norway that identified Gylderåsen as a possible data center location.

Gylderåsen has been a designated industrial area since 2009.

The Norwegian government has a national strategy with the aim of drawing in the data center industry. The basis for the initiative is that it will bring jobs to the nation and will aid in a green digital transformation.

According to a report from Digi.no, Google has applied for 480MW of power capacity for the data center in the NO1 power region.

Google Norway’s head of communications, Sondre Ronander, confirmed the application to Digi, but noted that this is merely an early step and there should not be expectations for construction to commence any time soon, with no final decision yet made regarding the site.

Valer is part of Østfold, a region in Eastern Norway. Google is also developing a data center campus in the Skien region of the country, having broken ground in February 2024.

The Skien site will be the company’s first data center in the Nordic country. Google first announced plans for a Norwegian data center region in October 2022.