Møre Trafo powers data centers:

Arctic Circle Data Center (ACDC)

“There are many locations in Norway that are suitable for data centers. Rana municipality and Mo Industripark are among those that have really done something to lay the groundwork for what could become Europe’s most sustainable data center,” says Eidskrem.

50 million

Rana municipality and Mo Industripark established Arctic Circle Data Center AS in 2014, and up until this year they spent NOK 50 million developing the first Norwegian cloud service, as well as planning an ACDC Campus of several hundred megawatts.

Went Under

“I’m very impressed with the work they put in. The cloud service worked excellently, but unfortunately they didn’t manage to raise enough capital to finance the construction of a new data center costing several hundred million kroner. It’s very regrettable that they went under in January,” says Eidskrem.

Seized the Chance

Eidskrem seized the chance when Arctic Circle Data Center had to file for bankruptcy, and in the middle of the Corona situation the Ålesund native, with over 30 years’ experience as an IT supplier, secured the bankrupt estate and established the company ACDC AS to breathe new life into the ambitious plans.

Took Over Everything

He has taken over all the IT equipment and software that he describes as exciting and very good, but that will now be developed further. At the same time, he has established the company ACDC

Campus AS, which will build a new, larger data center.

Big Plans

“We are many who have big plans and strong belief in the project,” says the Ålesund native from Sunnmøre. ACDC aims to deliver world-class data centers and cloud services to and from the Nordic market, and is now in the process of securing the necessary funding to build its own full-scale data center.

SmartNations Foundation

For four years, Eidskrem has worked to build a data center industry in Norway. He secured SkatteFUNN funding to design the most sustainable concept for future data centers, and last year he established the SmartNations Foundation in the US to put sustainability on the agenda for international digital infrastructure and the data center industry.

Norway Ranks Highest

“That’s where Norway ranks highest on the list. With abundant renewable energy and low temperatures all year round, Norway is not only the most sustainable option for the data center industry. It’s the most cost-effective as well,” says Eidskrem.

20,000 Square Meters

He has built a large network over his years in the data industry, and is in dialogue with major international companies that need access to their own data centers.

“We have secured an agreement with the landowner Mo Industripark for a 20,000-square-meter plot to build such a data center,” Eidskrem explains.

Born Entrepreneur

For as long as he can remember, he has been driven to create things. Preferably something that matters and contributes to a better world. He has never been afraid to think big, and now he believes that ACDC represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Silicon Valley

He has, among other things, helped develop a search technology for the media industry and Microsoft, and has been part of the innovative environment in Silicon Valley for the past 13 years with his company IntraHouse. The IT company has won awards for its mobile technology and for many

years delivered mobile solutions to, among others, the Norwegian media industry and the American data giant Cisco.

Early Start

The energetic Ålesund native started his own company right after high school (!) to finance his studies. He pulled it off with flying colors, and when he finished a two-year economics program in Molde and business school in Bergen, he still had money left over.

Internet

In the early days of the Internet, in 1995, he bought an IT company in Bergen to sell internet solutions to businesses that at the time knew little or nothing about websites and doing business online. This is the company that is now setting up in Mo i

Rana.

Bought Domains

At the same time, the then 25-year-old from Ålesund started securing domains he believed could be worth a lot in the future. In 1996 he bought the domain by.com for 4,800 dollars (33,000 kroner), which even Eidskrem thought was insanely expensive back then.

Made Ten Million

“Several of my buddies laughed their heads off at me back then,” says Eidskrem, who 20 years later could laugh all the way to the bank when a Chinese buyer shelled out a full 10 million kroner to secure the domain by.com.

Smart Cities

The money goes into developing digital solutions for smart cities and collaboration in organizations.

An Ambitious Goal

“My big goal is for the center I’ve taken over in Rana to become the green core that runs all European smart cities,” says Andre Eidskrem. “But before that, we’ll work together with other Norwegian data center projects,” he says.

100 Sites in Norway

– In Norway there are around 100 locations that are suitable for large data centers. What they all have in common is local politicians, power companies and property companies who have been hoping that Microsoft would come and build a data center, says Eidskrem.

Calling for Cooperation

But according to Eidskrem, unfortunately that’s not how it works. Everything is expected to be in place BEFORE players like this will show any interest. At the same time, it’s impossible to get started without having agreements in place with such large customers.

Møre Trafo

So we invite everyone who is interested to work with ACDC, so they can install a similar, smaller data center. You need redundancy at every level, including power. That’s where the expertise of Møre Trafo is extremely valuable, says Eidskrem. And by working across these locations, they can act as backup for each other.

Norwegian Smart Cities

“We’re now setting up a research project for this kind of data center concept, and we want everyone who’s interested to get in touch,” says Eidskrem. He also invites Norwegian smart cities into this project, where they get a smaller data center installed in their city, and in this way become part of the world’s most sustainable concept, with parts of the cloud located in their own municipality.

Exciting for Møre Trafo

Server park facilities are an exciting and attractive market segment for Møre Trafo.

We are now working on several concrete projects, says Senior Sales representative at Møre Trafo, Olav Dalsbotten. So far, Møre Trafo has delivered to 18 server parks in Norway.

To ACDC and Mo Industripark, the cornerstone company in Sykkylven has delivered 20 substations and 20 2500 kVA transformers. Møre Trafo is Scandinavia’s largest manufacturer of distribution transformers and fully assembled

substations.

Møre Trafo is Norway’s largest transformer supplier with a market share of around 50 percent, and the second largest in substation sales.

While Eidskrem calls for cooperation to succeed, Dalsbotten’s experience is that today there is above all strong competition between the developers, and many want as little attention as possible on their projects.