European data center firm Magnora is set to develop a new data center in Oslo, Norway, after acquiring a commercial property in the Norwegian capital. The EuroNext Oslo-listed Magnora Data Center has agreed to enter into a 50:50 joint venture with Blix Group AS, securing space in the former Norwegian Payment Clearing House (Bankenes Betalingssentral) facilities. The company said the location provides "immediate access to power, cooling and connectivity well suited for conversion into a modern data center."
The facility will initially have access to 1MW of power capacity, with technical studies indicating the potential to scale up to 9MW. Designed to host high-density infrastructure, the data center will combine Rear Door Heat Exchangers (RDHx) and Direct Liquid Cooling (DLC) to support densities of up to 100kW per rack, a configuration increasingly sought after for AI workloads.
"This joint-venture project gives us fast, capital-light access to AI data center capacity in metro Oslo, together with a partner who already has technical staff, power and cooling in place in the same building. This also complements our Storespeed offering in Halden, Norway," said Erik Sneve, chairman of Magnora Data Center ASA.
Founded in 2008, Blix provides colocation services across multiple data centers in Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, London, Amsterdam, and New York. Its existing Blix NR5 Oslo data center is located in the same building at Nedre Rommen 5 in eastern Oslo. Opened last year, that facility offers up to 3MW across 1,000 sqm (10,763 sq ft), hosting around 144 racks.
The building itself has a notable history. Built in 1988 for Bankenes Betalingssentral (BBS), now Nets Norway, the 6,050 sqm (65,121 sq ft) property in Rommen was sold to real estate firm Bruun Eiendom in 2012. Its conversion into a data center underscores the growing trend of repurposing existing urban infrastructure for digital infrastructure needs.
Magnora was initially founded in 2001 and transitioned into a dedicated renewable energy investor in 2018, investing in a number of wind, solar, and battery projects. The firm moved into data centers last year and took its Magnora Data Center unit public in June. The company owns Norwegian data center developer Storespeed, which operates a single colocation facility in Halden, alongside Blix.
Looking ahead, Magnora is targeting large-scale developments on the western coast of Norway in Kristiansund and Hämeenlinna, Finland. The company is also pursuing a 60MW development in southern Sweden and working on multiple projects around Milan, Italy. In a recent investor presentation, the company said it has a development portfolio of 585MW across nine sites and a development pipeline totaling 2.7GW across 50 projects, with additional sites in other European markets and South Africa being assessed.
This Oslo project marks a strategic step for Magnora as it seeks to expand its footprint in the Nordic data center market, leveraging existing infrastructure and partnerships to accelerate time-to-market in a region known for its abundant renewable energy and growing demand for AI-ready capacity.