Google Skien data center, Skien, Telemark

Google's first data center in Norway has been under construction since February 2024 at Gromstul, just north of Skien in Telemark, with 240 MW of power allocated to the first phase of the 600 million euro project. Google said in 2024 the plant would run on more than 99 percent carbon-free power because of the make-up of the Norwegian grid and would be operating in 2026; no opening has been announced.

Google bought about 200 hectares at Gromstul, roughly 85 miles southwest of Oslo, around 2019; local press named the seller as Leopold Lovenskiold, one of Norway's largest forest owners. The data center is designed to be ready to supply its waste heat, and a Deloitte study commissioned by Google estimated 6.7 billion kroner of value creation in Norway from the investment between 2024 and 2025.

Power has drawn the most debate. Before construction began, some reports suggested the campus could eventually need up to 860 MW, a figure Skien's mayor, Marius Roheim Aarvold, called a long-term prediction for the whole Gromstul area, saying Google's first phases would be 20 MW and then 100 MW, with a further 120 MW toward 2030. "We have been waiting anxiously for Google to make the decision to start construction of its first data center here in Skien," Aarvold said at the 2024 announcement.

Skien municipality promotes Gromstul as a new regional site for data center operations and says there has been high building activity around it since construction began.