Data centres provide storage space, power, internet connectivity, cooling and security for the hardware on which digital services are developed and run. Digital services such as cloud storage and artificial intelligence provide significant and growing benefits for Norwegian businesses, researchers, the public sector and consumers.
At the same time, data centres are seizing a rapidly growing share of scarce resources such as electricity. Since 2019, the grid-connected power capacity of data centres has increased more than sevenfold, and the grid connection queue is now largely dominated by data centres.
The Government’s 2025 data centre strategy set the following goals for the data centre policy. Norway is to be an attractive location for data centres that create local and national value, whilst also strengthening national security and preparedness. The data centre industry should also be sustainable.
The report uses these goals as its reference point and builds a knowledge base for improving the regulatory model for data centres in Norway. This will be the topic of one of the Norwegian Board of Technology’s next reports, which is due in December 2026.
The report also provides an overview of key trends in the data centre industry and explains the concepts and mechanisms needed to understand how data centres work.
Download the report in Norwegian below:
Datasentre i Norge - vurderinger av samfunnsnytte
The NBT’s expert group for the project:
- Sverre Gotaas, CEO of Herøya Industripark AS and Chair of the Norwegian Board of Technology
- Catherine Banet, Professor, Department of Energy and Resources Law, UiO
- Magnus Korpås, Professor, Department of Electric Energy, NTNU
- Petter Røkke, Research Director, Thermal Energy, SINTEF Energy Research
- Stein Inge Knarbakk, Head of Department, Sigma2
- Øivind Anti Nilsen, Professor, Department of Economics, NHH
