Bulk Data Centers has taken full ownership of the OS-IX data center in Oslo, Norway, and plans to expand the site.
The Oslo-based company this week announced it had purchased the remaining 50 percent of the facility from Akershus Energi, a Norwegian power company that produces hydroelectricity. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
OS-IX is a 23,500 sqm (252,950 sq ft) facility with 22MW of capacity. The two companies acquired the site – a former printing press – and broke ground on the data center in 2014. Bulk said it is already working on expanding the capacity at the data center and will have 1.5MW of new whitespace available in autumn 2022.
“Acquiring the final 50 percent of OS-IX is a natural step in Bulk’s strategy to scale a pan-Nordic platform of sustainable data centers. With 100 percent ownership of all our Nordic data center assets we have strategic flexibility to take this platform to the next level," said Jon Gravråk, CEO at Bulk Infrastructure Group.
Bulk, which operates three data centers campuses across Norway and Denmark, noted that it has ‘worked closely’ with OS-IX co-owner Akershus Energi since 2014, and the two companies will continue their cooperation around renewable energy solutions and infrastructure through a cooperation agreement.
“Taking full ownership control of OS-IX is important for our business going forward, and we are already expanding capacity to meet customer demand,” said Gisle M. Eckhoff, Executive Vice President Data Centers at Bulk Infrastructure Group. “The first stage of our expansion plan will be completed in the summer, with 1.5 MW fresh white space.”
The changes also include Bulk buying Akershus Energi's financial ownership in the DHL building at Skedsmokorset in the Lillestrøm area of Oslo. Akershus said Soleie, which it partly owns, has already delivered the first solar power plant on the roof of one of Bulk's logistics buildings in Vestby.
“In recent years, Akershus Energi has invested heavily in new renewable energy and infrastructure, having been a pure hydropower producer for many years,” said Akershus Energi CEO Eskil Lunde Jensen. “We now want to sharpen our strategy and concentrate on the energy solutions of the future, and the change in the collaboration with Bulk is a natural consequence of that."
He continued: "Akershus Energi will focus on its role in developing and operating new renewable energy production within hydropower, wind power, heat, and solar power. I believe this form of cooperation will benefit both companies in the future.”