Reykjanesbær signs letter of intent for new data centre

Reykjanesbær’s mayor has signed a letter of intent with Orbis Invest ehf. on the planned development of a data centre at Vogshóll, mbl.is reports.

Data centre development is already under way in the area, including projects by atNorth and Borealis. Orbis Invest could join them in the coming months. Verne also announced plans before the weekend to expand its nearby data centre.

“Many companies approach us, particularly in the data centre industry, because we have ideal conditions for it,” Mayor Vilhjálmur Árnason told Morgunblaðið.

He said development at Vogshóll would involve more than data centres, as the area is also considered attractive for biotechnology and algae cultivation.

However, Árnason stressed that the letter of intent was only one step towards Orbis Invest developing a data centre. The company would still have to overcome one of the industry’s main obstacles: securing electricity.

“That may be the biggest obstacle everywhere in Iceland today: on the one hand, securing energy, and on the other, transmitting it,” he said. “If it were not for that, development would be faster.”