Frier Vest and BW Velora sign agreement to develop data centre
Frier Vest and BW Velora have signed an agreement to develop a large-scale data centre with associated infrastructure in the Frier Vest industrial park in Grenland. The agreement is the first major deal on the site and lays the foundation for further industrial development and growth in the region.
Sven Ombudstvedt, Managing Director of Frier Vest, and Nils Kristian Liveng-Ness, Director and Co-Founder of BW Velora. Photo: Frier Vest Holding
BW Velora will develop the data centre on parts of the fully zoned industrial site. The project is planned with a capacity of around 250 megawatts and is expected to create more than 100 direct jobs in the operational phase, in addition to substantial activity for suppliers and service industries in the Grenland region.
“The agreement with BW Velora is an important first step towards realising our ambition of creating the industrial site of the future at Frier Vest – one that makes room for industry, knowledge and growth,” says Sven Ombudstvedt, Managing Director of Frier Vest.
Frier Vest is one of Norway’s largest development-ready industrial areas, comprising 1,800 decares (180 hectares) strategically located by the Frierfjord. The area is owned by the Port of Grenland, SIVA and Bamble Municipality, and is fully zoned for green and sustainable industrial development. With direct access to a deep-water quay, renewable power and strong transport links, Frier Vest is well positioned to attract new business activity.
“Digital infrastructure is a prerequisite for almost all new industrial establishment. BW Velora’s substantial investments make it even more attractive for other businesses to locate in the same area,” says Ombudstvedt.
Ombudstvedt says that data centres and digital infrastructure – in addition to generating industrial activity and jobs in their own right – are an enabler that can support existing process industry, make smarter production possible and contribute to new business development across the entire region:
“The value creation of the future happens through collaboration between industry, technology players and government. This initiative shows what is possible when everyone pulls in the same direction.”
For BW Velora, Grenland is tailor-made for the development of digital infrastructure.
“More than a hundred years of solid industrial expertise, access to renewable power and strong logistics connections make Grenland – and Telemark more broadly – highly attractive for industrial development,” says Nils Kristian Liveng-Ness, Executive Director and Co-Founder of BW Velora.
Liveng-Ness points out that digital infrastructure is today as strategically important as roads, water and electricity, and that it also helps strengthen the competitiveness of other industries.
“The need for a green transition, sharp growth in demand for computing power driven by artificial intelligence and automation, and an increasingly unsettled geopolitical situation in which control over critical digital infrastructure is becoming ever more important – these are the three global megatrends driving demand.”
Media Contact
BW Velora
Nils Kristian Liveng-Ness
+47 413 14 003
nk@bw-velora.com
About BW Velora
BW Velora specialises in project development and commercialisation of existing sites for digital infrastructure, with a particular focus on data centre projects. The company was established to solve the complex challenges of developing state-of-the-art digital infrastructure and offers end-to-end solutions from early-stage project planning through to execution and financing. As part of BW Group, BW Velora has access to a global network and extensive experience in the investment, development and operation of digital and energy-related infrastructure. Read more at: https://bw-velora.com/
