European data center firm Magnora is to develop a new data center in Oslo, Norway.

EuroNext Oslo-listed Magnora Data Center agreed to enter into a 50:50 joint venture with Blix Group AS and acquired a commercial property around Oslo to develop it into an AI data center.

The space is located in the former Norwegian Payment Clearing House (Bankenes Betalingssentral) facilities. Magnora said the facility provides “immediate access to power, cooling and connectivity well suited for conversion into a modern data center.”

The facility has access to 1MW of power capacity initially, with technical studies indicating potential for scaling up to 9MW.

The facility will be designed to host high-density infrastructure, combining Rear Door Heat Exchangers (RDHx) and Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) to support densities of up to 100kW per rack.

“This joint-venture project gives us fast, capital-light access to AI data center capacity in metro Oslo, together with a partner who already has technical staff, power and cooling in place in the same building. This also complements our Storespeed offering in Halden, Norway,” said Erik Sneve, chairman of Magnora Data Center ASA.

Founded in 2008, Blix provides colocation services in multiple data centers in Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, London, Amsterdam and New York.

Blix Solutions’ existing Blix NR5 Oslo data center is located in the same building, at Nedre Rommen 5 in eastern Oslo. Opened last year, the facility offers up to 3MW across 1,000 sqm (10,763 sq ft), hosting around 144 racks.

Built in 1988, Bankenes Betalingssentral (BBS) – now Nets Norway – sold the 6,050 sqm (65,121 sq ft) building (aka Lower Room 5) in Rommen to real estate firm Bruun Eiendom in 2012.

Magnora was initially founded in 2001 and transitioned into a dedicated renewable energy investor in 2018, since investing in a number of wind, solar, and battery projects. The firm moved into data centers last year, and took its Magnora Data Center unit public in June.

Magnora owns Norwegian data center developer Storespeed, which operated a single colo facility in Halden, alongside Blix. The firm is targeting large-scale developments on the western coast of Norway in Kristiansund and Hämeenlinna, Finland. The company is also targeting a 60MW development in southern Sweden, but hasn’t detailed any planned projects yet, and is working on multiple projects around Milan, Italy.

In a recent investor presentation, the company said it has a development portfolio of 585MW across nine sites, and a development pipeline totaling 2.7GW across 50 projects. Sites across other markets in Europe and in South Africa are also being assessed as part of that development pipeline.