Google Våler data center, Østfold, Norway

Google is considering a data center at Gylderåsen, an industrial area in Våler in Østfold county, Norway, and has applied for a 480-megawatt grid connection for it. The application was made through the company WS Computing AS in the NO1 power region, for a project in the Moss region, and the amount equals the power used by about 200,000 homes, Nettavisen reported, citing Digi.no. Google has made no investment decision, Google Norway communications head Sondre Ronander said in December 2025, and whether it builds depends on getting power.

In September 2026 the technical weekly TU reported that Google had secured the 480-megawatt connection, while Ronander stressed that no development had been decided. The site is being developed by KI Våler AS, owned 96 percent by Østfold Energi and 4 percent by Våler municipality, which has given Google the rights needed to develop the project. Våler's municipal director Ivar Nævra said it was realistic that construction could start in 2030, and that the area is an extension of an existing industrial area and not very attractive for hiking or recreation.

The idea dates to a 2017 study for Østfold county by Cowi and Smart Innovation Norway that picked out Gylderåsen as a possible location for large data centers, and the municipal council backed the main project unanimously that October. The council adopted a zoning plan for power-intensive industry at Gylderåsen in December 2022 after objections from the county governor, neighboring Vestby municipality and the county's cultural heritage office. The umbrella group Forum for Natur og Friluftsliv appealed in January 2023 on behalf of six nature and outdoor groups, including BirdLife Norway's Østfold branch and Naturvernforbundet in Østfold, and the county governor upheld the plan that December, making it legally binding.

Østfold has a power deficit of about one terawatt-hour, and the business federation NHO warned that more generation and faster grid building are needed to keep prices in check. Google is also building a data center campus in Skien, its first in Norway.