Polar announces 40MW AI data center expansion in Norway

Polar Data Centers will add DRA02, a 40MW AI-ready facility at its Drangedal campus in Norway, to serve rising demand from hyperscale, cloud and AI customers. The expansion extends the company’s European growth strategy and adds more capacity built for high-density computing, direct liquid cooling and renewable power.

Why it matters: - DRA02 adds 40MW of AI-ready capacity to Polar Data Centers' flagship campus in Drangedal, Norway. - The expansion is aimed at hyperscale, cloud and artificial intelligence customers that need more power, cooling and scalable compute infrastructure. - The project strengthens Polar's push to build sustainable digital infrastructure across Europe.

What happened: - Polar Data Centers announced DRA02, a new data center at its Drangedal campus in Norway. - The facility is planned as part of Polar's long-term European infrastructure strategy. - DRA02 is the next phase after DRA01, the existing award-winning facility at the same campus. - The company framed the expansion as a response to accelerating AI adoption and growing demand for purpose-built infrastructure.

The details: - DRA02 is designed to deliver approximately 40MW of IT capacity. - The project will cover more than 21,300 square metres of technical space. - The facility will use direct liquid cooling. - The site is being engineered to support the latest GPU technologies and chipsets. - Both critical infrastructure and customer space are designed for current and future generations of AI hardware. - The campus will be powered by renewable Norwegian hydroelectric energy. - Polar says the site is designed for high efficiency while supporting customers' environmental goals. - Norway's renewable power supply, stable grid and favourable climate make the campus attractive for large-scale AI and cloud deployments. - Polar says the Drangedal expansion reflects a customer-led development model focused on flexibility, scalability and resilience. - CEO Andy Hayes said DRA02 builds on DRA01 and underscores Polar's commitment to sustainable, high-performance infrastructure in Norway.

Between the lines: - The expansion shows how data center operators are tailoring new builds around AI workloads rather than general-purpose compute. - Direct liquid cooling and GPU-ready design signal that the campus is being built for power-dense systems that are harder to support in older facilities. - Polar is positioning sustainability and renewable energy as part of the value proposition, not just an operating detail.

What's next: - Construction of DRA02 is now part of Polar's wider European growth plan. - Once complete, the expanded Drangedal campus is expected to rank among Europe's more advanced environments for AI, cloud and high-performance computing workloads. - Polar will continue targeting customers that need scalable, renewable-powered infrastructure for demanding AI applications.

The bottom line: - Polar is adding AI-specific capacity in Norway as demand for high-density, renewable-powered data centers keeps rising.