Danish real estate firm Thylander has broken ground on a new data center in Esbjerg.

Thylander and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) announced the groundbreaking of Dansk Data Center 1 (DDC1) at Esbjerg Port last week.

The facility, featuring a grid connection by local operator N1, will offer 11.5MW. The facility is set to launch in October 2027.

The facility will be grid-reactive, featuring energy management technology from Plexar. The companies said the data center’s energy consumption can be adjusted to match the power grid’s current capacity, while energy storage will support grid balancing.

The data center will use a closed-loop cooling system to reduce water use. Utility company DIN Forsyning will aim to use the excess heat from DDC1 for district heating

The project is owned by PensionDanmark, the Thylander Group, and CIP (the latter through its CI Microgrid Electrification Fund).

“Our ambition is not just to build a single data center, but to set a new standard for how data centers can be developed as an integral part of society,” said Anders Frich Mathiesen, CEO of Thylander Data Centers.

“From an infrastructure perspective, Esbjerg is one of the most important industrial hubs and a very business-friendly municipality. This makes the port an ideal location for a project like DDC1, which is built on strong local collaboration,” added Karsten Uhd Plauborg, partner at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and CEO of Plexar.

Esbjerg is a seaport city and the seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark.

Danish real estate firm Thylander first outlined plans for a 100MW project in Esbjerg in May 2025, pitching the development as a “fully Danish developed, operated, and owned hyperscale data center.”

Founded in 1986, Thylander is a Danish real estate developer and investor. The company’s portfolio currently totals 74 properties and ten property funds.

Founded in 2012, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners is a Danish investment firm specializing in infrastructure investments. The company has previously signed energy deals with the likes of Google and MediaTek.

“Access to data centers is a key competitive factor and a prerequisite for realizing AI growth. It is therefore natural for us to invest in Danish data center capacity for Danish businesses. PensionDanmark invests in digital infrastructure globally, so it makes sense for us to develop data capacity for Danish companies while we also get the opportunity to generate attractive returns on our members’ retirement savings,” added Rune Gade Holm, head of private markets at PensionDanmark.