With an annual mean temperature under 30 degrees Fahrenheit, the Node Pole area of Sweden, near the Arctic Circle, is becoming a hotbed of datacenter activity. Hydro66 is breaking ground on an 85,000 sq ft datacenter in the town of Boden, near Luleå, which became a high profile location when Facebook invested $1 billion to build a datacenter there.Taking advantage of the frigid temperature and the availability of low-cost hydroelectric power in the region, Hydro66 has broken ground on what they are calling their Ultra Green Arctic Data Center. With focus on supporting high-density computing, Hydro66 is also delivering the lowest possible carbon footprint throughout construction and operation, according to Paul Morrison, Business Development Director.The datacenter is expected to be in service with 4 MW of capacity in May 2015, but the construction of a new power utility substation directly adjacent to the facility will have access to more than 120 MW of power shortly thereafter.Thanks to the temperature, regardless of power consumption the facility will be able to use free air cooling year round. With 100 percent of the power being generated by hydro sources, the datacenter meets the holy grail of being “ultra green”: a renewable power source coupled with free cooling.The location features four power grid options, allowing customers to choose failover from one grid to another rather than use a traditional backup generator model. Sweden is also rated as the fourth–most connected location in Europe, providing potential datacenter customers with a range of options in Internet connectivity as well. If successful, Hydro66 plans to expand the operation — this first facility uses less than 20 percent of the land that they have available for construction.Read the original article here.
