Google to Build $700 Million Data Center in Skien, Norway

After 2015, almost all fast-charging stations in Norway have been commercially funded, Unni Berge, a spokesperson for the Norwegian EV Association, said. Bendik Nybakk Torsæter, an EV expert at SINTEF, noted that the 2015 plan had support from all political parties at the time, but polarization has since made such consensus harder.

Herøya Industrial Park in Porsgrunn accounts for more than one-third of the 10,000 industrial jobs across Telemark County, which has a population of 178,000.

Eivind Funnemark, an organizer for the anti-wind power advocacy group Motvind, opposes the turbines planned for the hills above Porsgrunn. His grandfather built the family’s summer farm there in 1924. Walking the site proposed for 800-foot-tall windmills, Funnemark pointed to ancient oaks, wood grouse breeding grounds and a spring so clear the water can be drunk by the ladle.

A SINTEF report suggests Norway could save 42 terawatt hours between now and 2050 through energy efficiency. U.S. pennies — removes incentives to conserve.

U.S. cents per kilowatt-hour while some customers in Germany pay more than 40 cents. ” He added that Norwegians transitioned because the math worked. Solutions are emerging elsewhere.

Ulven Energy Central in Oslo uses four heat pumps and waste heat from a neighboring data center to heat surrounding neighborhoods. Water enters the data center at Ulven at 120 degrees Fahrenheit and exits at over 175 degrees Fahrenheit, Truls Erling Aas Jemtland, a spokesperson for Hafslund Celsio, said.

A Google data center in Hamina, Finland, is expected to provide 80% of the city’s heating needs.

Hedda Foss Five, the former mayor of Skien, has suggested bringing stakeholders together to visit operating wind parks. Stein Birger Johnsen has proposed building what he called the biggest greenhouse in the world near the Skien data center to use its waste heat for growing tomatoes. A view of the harbor in Porsgrunn was photographed on April 30, 2026.

Marius Roheim Aarvold and Stein Birger Johnsen were photographed in Skien city hall on April 28, 2026. The E69 road on the island of Mageröya, not far from the North Cape of Norway, was photographed on Aug. 6, 2024.

Com reported that Norway’s oil wealth has insulated voters from feeling the financial pinch of the growing competition for energy, creating a challenge for collective decisionmaking on the country’s next energy steps.