US solar manufacturing firm T1 Energy is pivoting into the data center sector.

The company received approval from local authorities to convert a portion of its Giga Arctic solar manufacturing campus in Mo i Rana, Norway, into a data center.

The Mo i Rana municipal government approved a permit on Thursday to rezone 161,000 sq ft (15,000 sqm) of the Giga Arctic site for industrial use or data center operations. The remainder of the 926,000 sq ft (86,028 sqm) site will remain zoned for industrial development, subject to change once more grid capacity is allocated.

The data center is slated to have a capacity of 50MW and could be operational as early as next year, with the potential to expand. T1 said it holds a position in the local grid capacity queue for 396MW of capacity and believes the existing building at the site will have enough space to accommodate a data center of that size.

The company has a 50-year lease at the Giga Arctic site, with the option to extend. The site sits within an industrial park in northern Norway and, according to the company, has access to low-cost energy from the region’s hydropower assets.

T1 said it is now in discussions with potential clients about monetizing the site, which was originally constructed as a solar and battery energy storage manufacturing facility.

“The people of Mo i Rana, Norway, today took a step towards the future and showed leadership in a future of AI and technology abundance with the approval of T1 Energy’s plan to convert Giga Arctic into a world-class data center. We are in active discussions with multiple counterparties to find a strategy to unlock shareholder value,” said Dan Barcelo, T1 Energy’s chairman and CEO.

T1 was formerly known as Freyr Battery. It changed its name to T1 Energy in 2025, shifting its focus from the construction of battery factories to the development of domestic US solar manufacturing. The Giga Arctic site was first announced in 2022, when the company operated under the Freyr name, but following the pivot, the company dropped plans for a battery factory. The data center would be the company’s first.