In Norway, Fjord Keeps Financial Data Cool

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Cabling trays run along the underground passages within the Green Mountain data center, a fjord-cooled facility in Stavanger, Norway. (Photo: Green Mountain)

Are you ready for fjord-cooled financial data? Norway's largest bank, DNB, will house its primary IT operations inside the Green Mountain data center, running its servers in underground data bunkers that once stored ammunition for NATO. The Green Mountain facility is located on the island of Rennesoy, where it draws frigid water from an adjacent fjord to cool its data halls.

The move by DNB marks a major win for Green Mountain, as well as continued momentum for Nordic data centers that tap the region's cool climate and renewable energy to support IT infrastructure. The contract spans over 21 years and is a multi-million NOK deal.

"DNB is one of Norway's largest users of data centre space and a user that has especially tough requirements on all aspects of the data centre quality, security and operations," said Knut Molaug, Green Mountain's CEO."This agreement is an important break-through for us, even though we have already five important customers on-board and good traction in the market place. With this sixth client a new market segment opens for us. This contract establishes us a key player in the data centre space for the financial services sector both in Norway and the rest of Europe."

100 Meters Underground

Green Mountain is a 21,000 square meter (226,000 square foot) nestled along the shores of the island of Rennesoy, inside concrete buildings within caves carved out of the mountain that are more than 100 meters underground. The project is being developed by the investment arm of the Norwegian shipping firm Smedvig.

Green Mountain’s cooling system taps the fjord for a steady supply of water at 8 degrees C (46 degrees F), which is optimal for use in data center cooling systems. Chilled water is a key component of many data center cooling systems. This water is often supplied by chillers, large refrigeration units that require a hefty amount of electricity to operate. Eliminating the chillers will usually allow a data center to operate with lower energy bills than similar facilities using chillers. The facility is powered entirely by hydro-electric energy.

"We chose Green Mountain because it has everything we need and because of its green profile, high security, high availability and low power consumption," said Liv Fiksdal, Group executive vice president IT and Operations in DNB. "In the financial markets stability is of essence, so a company like Green Mountain, which offers continuity in business and a predictable base line of operating costs, is perfect for the finance industry."

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A data hall within the Green Mountain data center, more than 100 meters below ground in Stavanger, Norway. (Photo: Green Mountain)