Europe is Beating Swords into Green Data Centers

Submitted by Matt on Wed, 09/16/2009 - 02:14

Repurposing military facilities into green data centers appears to be a growing trend in Europe. We recently noted a Swiss data center built in an old military bunker and an Icelandic facility in a decommissioned NATO base. Now Sweden offers another variation on this theme: an underground data center with a Cold War pedigree.

The Pionen White Mountains data center in Sweden is built 30m underground in a what is described as a "Cold War nuclear bunker". The underground location in northern country allows natural cooling for much of the year. You can see spectacular photos and watch a video extolling Sweden as an ideal data center location: "The environmental benefits coupled with low electricity prices, stable political situation and no history of disruptive natural disasters have seen Sweden become a sought after location for data centres."

Is this phenomenon largely confined to Europe? Post a comment about other military facilities being recycled as green data centers.

All Sorts of Facilities Converted to Data Centers

Submitted by Matt on Wed, 09/16/2009 - 20:14.

@ecologee writes to me that German companies are repurposing all sorts of facilities as data centers:

www.ipx-server.de has used an old US Amy flight-hangar near Nuremberg for many years, but it's not a green data-center

1&1 is converting a never-used nuclear waste facility near Frankfurt/Main: http://www.techdigest.tv/2008/11/11_converts_for_1.html

www.brm.de operates in Bremen (Northern Germany) one of the most green data centers on earth in an old harbor storehouse

and identifies others elsewhere in Europe:

another very outstanding example in Spain near Barcelona: http://is.gd/3nrNi data center in an old chapel

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