Located in a former NATO facility carved deep into a mountain, the DC1-Stavanger data center is powered by 100% renewable hydroelectric energy and cooled with water from the fjord, which maintains a constant temperature of 8°C year-round. This unique location offers a significant advantage in leveraging renewable energy sources and minimizing cooling equipment to achieve near-zero CO2 emissions . However, like all data centers, it requires uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and thermal management systems to ensure optimal uptime.
“Sustainability affects everything we do, and it’s a very important factor whenever we build new Colocation centers and introduce new features,” commented Alexander de Flon Rønning, Design and Product Director at Green Mountain. “All customers can see where we source our energy. For us, it’s a key differentiator.”
Giordano Albertazzi, President for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at Vertiv, emphasized: “The Climate Neutral Data Center Pact , signed by leading European cloud and data center operators, represents the industry’s latest commitment to reducing its environmental footprint. An effective transition to a sustainable, digital future will require both the deployment of new, state-of-the-art data center facilities and the upgrading of existing locations to leverage the latest and most efficient technologies. Vertiv is proud to support this effort.”
Following an exhaustive search, Green Mountain executives visited Vertiv Italia's Customer Experience centers to see these technologies in action and test their performance under optimal conditions. As a result, Green Mountain selected the high-efficiency Vertiv™ Liebert® PCW for a total installed cooling capacity of 5 MW. The Liebert PCW delivers a high level of efficiency thanks to a combination of the latest technologies and an internal design that optimizes the aerodynamics of all internal components. Vertiv was also chosen as the UPS supplier for another project deployed concurrently, providing several Liebert® EXL S1 , backed by lithium-ion batteries, a longer-life alternative to traditional VRLA battery systems.
“For Green Mountain, the sustainability of products and suppliers is a key factor when acquiring new equipment. Vertiv’s technologies are the most energy-efficient I’ve ever seen, and this will further enhance our already extremely high overall sustainability rating,” commented de Flon Rønning. “In addition, Vertiv’s systems are very compact. Since our data center is carved into a mountain, we don’t have any additional rooms,” de Flon Rønning stated. “We couldn’t blast through the mountain any further to gain more space for the data center equipment.”
“Managing the project during COVID-19 was complex,” he added. “We were worried that all the factories would close and deliveries would be suspended. Fortunately, Vertiv stepped up and helped us by, among other things, tracking shipments and ensuring that the equipment was delivered smoothly despite border closures and logistical challenges. If Vertiv hadn’t helped us with the shipments, we wouldn’t have been able to complete the project on time.”
"When we build other projects, we will turn to Vertiv's data center technology," said de Flon Rønning. "When we select a partner, we do so from a strategic perspective for a long-term relationship."
According to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) [1] , [2] , [3] , data centers play a fundamental role in technological innovation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, and the data economy enabled by digitalization. Data center operators like Green Mountain can serve as a model for accelerating the sustainable energy transition and pave the way for other energy-intensive sectors to follow.
