​Stockholm sets new standards for sustainable data centers

The City of Stockholm launches Stockholm Data Parks to attract investment in data centers where waste heat is recycled and used to heat the city.

A partnership comprising the City of Stockholm, Fortum Värme, Ellevio, Stokab and Invest Stockholm, today launched Stockholm Data Parks. The initiative seeks to help large data centers maximize cost efficiency and sustainability with low cost renewable electricity and paid-for heat recovery which is then distributed to Stockholm’s heating system. The long-term objective is to supply 10 percent of the city’s residential heating demand through recovered excess heat from data centers.

Stockholm Data Parks bring together the basic data center infrastructure elements to minimize startup costs and time to market for data center investors. At the ready-to-build sites, the necessary power, cooling, heat recovery and dark fiber infrastructure is predefined. The sites launched today are located in Kista/Akalla, the ICT hub of Sweden. 

Over time, data parks in other locations will be added to the program. Fully built out, recovered heat from Stockholm Data Parks will play an important role in the city’s future fossil-free energy system and data centers locating in Stockholm Data Parks have the potential to become net climate positive. Setting new standards for sustainable data centers also entails reaching new cost levels. In addition to the cost of electricity decreasing to less than €0.04 per kilowatt-hour because of the recent tax change for data centers, Stockholm Data Parks will offer free data center cooling as a service in exchange for the excess heat when data center load exceeds 10 MW.

“So far, most data centers have been built with little consideration for the environment. We want to change that. With the significant synergies between recovered data center heat and the city’s environmental objective to become fossil fuel-free by 2040, I am determined to make Stockholm a major hub for sustainable data centers,” says Karin Wanngård, Mayor of the City of Stockholm.

“With a market of more than 80 million people within a roundtrip delay of 30 milliseconds, covering all major cities of Northern Europe, the Baltic states and western Russia, Stockholm is an ideal location for cloud players and other major data center actors,” adds Göran Långsved, Chariman of the Board at Fortum Värme.

For more information, please visit:
www.stockholmdataparks.com
linkedin.com/company/stockholm-data-parks
twitter.com/sthlmdataparks

Contacts:
Erik Rylander
Head of Data Center Cooling and Heat recovery
Fortum Värme
erik.rylander@stockholmdataparks.com
+46 70 693 51 84

Torbjörn Bengtsson
Head of ICT
Invest Stockholm
torbjorn.bengtsson@stockholm.se
+46 8 508 280 06

City of Stockholm
Stockholm Business Region, with its subsidiaries Invest Stockholm and Visit Stockholm, is the official investment and tourism promotion agency for the Stockholm region. Stockholm is one of Europe’s most dynamic sustainable regions. Stockholm Business Region is fully owned by the City of Stockholm. Our common brand is Stockholm – The Capital of Scandinavia.

Fortum Värme
Fortum Värme is jointly owned in equal shares by the City of Stockholm and Fortum. Fortum Värme produces district heating, district cooling and electricity. Between the years 2010-2016, Fortum Värme invested SEK 7 billion in combined heat and power production in the Stockholm region. District heating in Stockholm will be entirely produced from renewable and recovered energy no later than 2030. The company has about 10 000 district heating and cooling customers.

Ellvio
Ellevio (publ) is one of Sweden's largest distribution network operators. We distribute electricity to 930 000 homes and workplaces in Stockholm, mid-Sweden, and on the West-coast. We invest billions to secure a reliable network for customers today and tomorrow, modernizing and weatherproofing the networks in rural areas and strengthening and renewing the networks in the cities. We have more than 400 employees, and in total we employ approximately 3 000 people around the country through our network projects. Ellevio, that has its headquarters in Stockholm, is owned by the Third National Pension Fund, Folksam, the First National Pension Fund, and Borealis infrastructure.

Stokab
Stokab is owned by the City of Stockholm and lays the foundation for IT use in Stockholm by providing a passive fiber-optic communications network in the region. The company has been tasked with expanding, maintaining and leasing connections to this network. The network is open for all players on equal terms and Stokab is obliged to lease to all stakeholders who wish to gain access. Because it is unlit or ’dark’ fiber that is leased, customers are responsible for providing their own active equipment.

Stockholm Business Region, with its subsidiaries Invest Stockholm and Visit Stockholm, is the official investment and tourism promotion agency for the Stockholm region.  Stockholm is one of Europe’s most dynamic sustainable regions. Stockholm Business Region is fully owned by the City of Stockholm. Our common brand is Stockholm – The Capital of Scandinavia.

www.investstockholm.com
www.visitstockholm.com
www.stockholmbusinessregion.se