一家美国 - 诺尔维亚公司Kolos选择了一个在挪威北部的偏远沿海小镇来建造它所说的将是世界上最大的数据中心。该网站被选为其能够提供清洁能力和通过不断增长的大型客户（例如Facebook和Google）的数据存储需求所需的低成本冷却的能力。

Ballangen的640万平方英尺（1,000兆瓦）Kolos数据中心将完全由挪威国营公用事业公司STATKRAFT提供的可再生水力电源提供。

The center will take advantage of the average 35-deg F year-round air temperature, supplemented by cold fresh water from the spillway of the nearest hydroelectric dam if air outside gets too warm, says Kevin LeMans, a principal in Dallas-based HDR, which is is designing the facility that is expected to start construction by the end of 2018 with a 10-year construction period due to its size. Kolos says the project's total cost will likely be around $15 billion.

勒曼斯说，保持低能能和碳足迹光在利用室外环境来冷却服务器而不是能源密集型冷水系统的关键。他说：“我们将拥有带有热交换器的空气处理装置，这些热交换器利用寒冷的空气来冷却数据中心。通过热交换器温暖的外部空气将在屋顶上耗尽。”

斯堪的纳维亚半岛一直是数据中心的首选地点。Facebook在不到240英里的瑞典拥有自己的设施，微软在挪威也设有峡湾冷却数据中心。

The country is a technological pioneer in hydropower generation, although its long-distance energy transmission capabilities are constrained. The electrical grid is not able to transport Statkraft’s hydropower generated near Ballangen very far without transmission loss, and under Norway’s regulations, Statkraft can be penalized for creating a surplus of power without an ability to use it.

如何ever, companies that come in and consume the current local power imbalance can get a bonus for correcting it.

Havard Lillebo, co-CEO of Kolos, says the main idea for dealing with the power imbalance problem, dating back to the 1950s, is "to bring energy-intensive industries close to where the power is produced to eliminate transmission losses.” He says the energy-generating potential in the area is even larger than the needs of the planned facility, but it is designed to scale up to a possible 2 GW of consumption in the future.

Lillibo说：“ Statkraft的一位官员说，他非常愿意将自己的整个产品出售给我们，这可能导致该地区的发电生产扩大。”

The form of the design is one continuous spine connecting many data center buildings to mimic a glacier moving over the mountainous terrain. The spine follows the abandoned copper mine and many of the buildings will be situated in old mining recesses. Copper was specified for the roofs of all the buildings to recognize Ballangen’s heritage as a former copper and zinc mining town.

“There are three primary reasons for the design,” says Mark Robinson, Kolos’ other CEO. “There are data center modules underneath many of the buildings. The form we used optimized layout of those modules. It’s also dead-center in the middle of the town, which rises around it. We wanted it to be architecturally sensitive to the community. Finally, the conical shape we used focuses the sound downward and not into the air. It’s a good sound barrier and would block the noise the data center creates from the residents’ homes.”

罗宾逊说，数据中心将在2028年开放时，将直接创造2,000至3,000个工作岗位，并在该地区支持10,000至15,000个工作。