Scandinavian Data Centers is on a mission to ensure circularity and resilience across its facilities by building ecosystems for energy storage, data centres, and heat reuse. By utilising energy in the most impactful way, the company not only maximises societal benefit per allocated megawatt but also delivers greater value for money to its customers, whilst strengthening Sweden’s digital resilience and enhancing community impact. Svante Horn, CEO and co-Founder, tells us more.
SCALING SCANDINAVIAN SUSTAINABILITY
Having grown rapidly in recent years, Sweden’s data centre landscape is now one of the most attractive in Europe.
As the wider market undergoes a structural shift, power costs and capacity limits are escalating in Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin (FLAP-D) data centre hubs, and growth is increasingly moving towards secondary locations.
It is within this context that the broader Nordic region, particularly Sweden, has begun to stand out with its strong fibre networks, abundant and stable renewable electricity, cool climate, and competitive power pricing.
Sweden is not only a major net energy exporter, delivering 30 terawatt-hours (TWh) to Europe in the last year alone, but also boasts one of the lowest carbon dioxide (CO2) footprints in its energy mix.
Adding to this is a ~2 gigawatt (GW) base district heating load, offering a gateway to Europe’s largest surplus energy production and storage systems.
“A key evolution has been the focus on sustainability, with Sweden uniquely placed to integrate circular principles,” introduces Svante Horn, CEO and co-Founder of Scandinavian Data Centres (SDC), a Swedish scale-up dedicated to creating societal value by building a resilient local ecosystem for energy, data, and heat.
With 240 of Sweden’s 290 municipalities using district heating, the country presents an ideal framework for large-scale heat reuse from data centres.
A Swedish city of 100,000 might have a 20 to 30 megawatt (MW) heating need in summer, rising to a 200 to 300 MW heating need in winter. As 1 MW of IT load can generate almost 1 MW of heat, this highlights an interesting opportunity.
“Whilst challenges persist in securing grid capacity and managing lengthy permitting processes, Sweden remains a highly competitive and forward-looking market that is well-positioned to support the next wave of digitalisation, including training greater inference, artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing (HPC), and 5G services,” Horn adds.
A PERFECT STORM OF EXTERNAL FACTORS
“As Churchill said, ‘Never let a good crisis go to waste’. We too at SDC are capitalising on several mega trends creating an opportunity for data centres to be part of a circular solution,” muses Horn.
As society is quickly adopting HPC and AI workloads – in essence replacing human-to-machine communication with machine-to-machine – the amounts of information transfer is generating ever higher rack densities.
These densities are forcing the mass adoption of various forms of liquid cooling. This change has resulted in higher out temperatures and much more efficient energy transfers from the data centre.
At the same time, heat pump technology is rapidly improving with higher efficiencies.
Finally, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the main input of district heating plants’ biomass costs have skyrocketed and resulted in rapid price increases for district heating end clients.
Consequently, there has never been a better but also more urgent time for data centres to make use of their enormous heat reuse potential.
A CIRCULAR MODEL
With circularity at the heart of how SDC contributes to society, instead of letting valuable energy go to waste, it utilises excess heat from its facilities to feed into district heating networks or greenhouses.
“This ensures that every MW consumed not only powers digital services but also warms homes, schools, and workplaces, directly returning value to local communities,” Horn explains.
By linking data centres with nearby battery storage, SDC can reduce its dependency on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) diesel back-up generators. At the same time, energy storage can help to balance the grid, thereby supporting and strengthening the energy system.
For citizens, this means cleaner air, greater use of renewable electricity in the grid, and more reliable power supply during peak demand or disruptions.
“Resilience emerges when these elements are combined,” he assesses.
By co-locating data centres, energy storage, and heat recovery, SDC is creating an integrated ecosystem that strengthens the grid, makes renewable power more dependable, and ensures stability for both customers and surrounding communities.
By reusing excess heat, SDC’s data centres reduce the energy burden on local heating plants, freeing them up to generate more electricity during the cold periods of the year when it is needed most.
“Ultimately, our mission is to maximise the societal benefit of every allocated MW of capacity. It is not only the right thing to do but has created buy-in from the wider community, enabling ‘ceteris paribus’ – more access to power,” Horn informs.
DOUBLE THE IMPACT
The placement of a data centre can have the greatest possible positive sustainability impact, with a data centre located in Sweden generating five to seven percent of the CO2 output of a data centre in continental Europe, for instance.
“The key metric is if we are going to place new data centre deployments in power surplus jurisdictions, we must demonstrate to these societies that there are clear local and national gains for these projects. Otherwise, we will not have a mass acceptance of new data centres and, as a result, potential political backlash against the sector,” Horn reflects.
Furthermore, as Sweden has a surplus of power whilst other parts of Europe are highly power constrained during certain parts of the year, it is not only an environmental benefit for the planet, but also a clear European win when IT loads relocate from areas with power deficits to areas of green power surplus.
However, to keep power available to new data centre deployments, there must be clear benefits for the allocators of power: the people in local communities.
ENHANCING DIGITAL AND SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
SDC is currently overseeing three distinct data centre projects, marking a step in Sweden’s growing push to align digital infrastructure development with sustainability and societal benefits.
ScandiDC I is the company’s flagship 10MW high-security data centre in Eskilstuna, Sweden, housed in a former World War II mountain facility.
With a focus on energy efficiency and local heat recovery, the project has been welcomed by local government as a contribution to both decarbonisation and digital resilience.
Initially, data centre cooling at the facility will rely on traditional air systems.
Meanwhile, ScandiDC II is set to be the company’s highest security infrastructure data centre site and ScandiDC III is a planned AI campus – both of which are yet to be officially announced.
“Each of our centres have been designed with the explicit goal of creating the greatest possible social and environmental benefits for the local community, Sweden, and the wider world,” Horn prides.
At ScandiDC I, excess heat will potentially be used to supply greenhouses in future, supporting sustainable food production and creating entry-level jobs to strengthen local economies and enhance regional self-sufficiency.
ScandiDC I’s location also makes the project particularly compelling in this context as many of Sweden’s leading grocery chains already operate their logistical hubs nearby in the area, streamlining the journey for the digital tomato to the dinner plate.
“One thing that makes SDC unique is that we align our data centre design with community energy needs, which sets a new global benchmark for circularity and energy efficiency,” he outlines.
Together, SDC’s initiatives will enhance Sweden’s resilience across IT, power, heating, and even food production.
As such, they are a shining example of dual-use civilian infrastructure where assets built for digital capacity also reinforce societal stability in times of stress.
“We are strengthening local communities whilst bolstering Sweden’s digital infrastructure, enabling the wide adoption of AI and HPC technologies – a textbook example of dual-use technology that is not only highly functional but also noticeably contributes to society,” Horn sets out.
“One thing that makes SDC unique is that we align our data centre design with community energy needs, which sets a new global benchmark for circularity and energy efficiency”
Svante Horn, CEO and co-Founder, Scandinavian Data Centers
A CALL FOR INCENTIVES
With a deep belief that more concrete digital industrial policies and incentives are required for companies working with energy-efficient measures such as heat reuse, Horn is invested in securing a sustainable future for Sweden’s data centre landscape.
“Everyone agrees on the value of data centres that deliver circular benefits, but making it work requires deep knowledge of fiber, energy, and district heating networks,” says Horn.
“It’s part of SDC’s secret sauce, but without clear economic incentives, it won’t become the industry norm.”
With capacity expected to triple in the coming years, he warns that the sector risks missing out on major societal benefits unless stronger policies are introduced.
“Data centres are no longer just digital infrastructure – they are becoming part of the energy and heat system,” he stresses.
When facilities connect to the grid through battery storage and heat recovery, they can stabilise renewable integration, reuse excess heat in district heating networks, and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
However, whilst these benefits create substantial societal value, there are few structured incentives today that reward operators who invest in these circular solutions.
As such, Horn is calling for more concrete industrial policy, which he hopes will encourage faster adoption of heat reuse, ensuring new capacity can strengthen both Sweden’s energy transition and its digital competitiveness.
“Data centres are no longer just digital infrastructure – they are becoming part of the energy and heat system”
Svante Horn, CEO and co-Founder, Scandinavian Data Centers
DELIVERING TANGIBLE CUSTOMER BENEFITS
SDC believes a more circular business model is not only possible but also more profitable for society and its clients, and the company maintains that circularity only becomes truly impactful if it delivers tangible benefits.
“Without clear improvements in cost, efficiency, or revenue, even the greenest innovations will struggle to scale,” Horn points out.
As such, SDC’s ecosystem approach is based around providing sustainability gains and direct business value for its customers, ensuring progress is economically viable and widely adopted.
The company’s commitment to economically sustainable circularity also creates what it calls ‘flywheel benefits’ – positive ripple effects that extend beyond financial metrics.
“Stakeholders recognise and appreciate our approach, which opens doors and builds trust,” he notes.
As a result, SDC’s focus on circularity has attracted outsized media attention, helping to amplify the company’s story and strengthen its credibility.
“Perhaps most importantly, it has inspired exceptional people to join us early on, like industry veteran Daniel Joyce, who has been clear that our commitment to circular principles was the core reason he wanted to be part of our journey,” Horn adds.
Ultimately, by aligning stakeholder value with societal benefit, SDC is creating a model that is not only scalable but also resilient, attracting the partners, attention, and talent needed to drive lasting impact.
FUTURE PRIORITIES
Looking ahead, SDC’s future is shaped by a handful of clear priorities.
It is moving towards the launch of its first site, ScandiDC I, whilst also preparing for future developments such as ScandiDC II and ScandiDC III. Even larger deployments are on the table, potentially to be announced in the near future.
As the same time, the company is continuing to evolve its ecosystem approach, building strong partnerships that create lasting value.
“Growing and nurturing our world-class team remains at the core of everything we do,” Horn asserts.
For example, SDC’s recent appointment of Lars Tisén as Sales Director will enable the company to enhance customer data security and strengthen its strategic and technical capabilities due to his deep expertise across software, hardware, and digital infrastructure.
For organisations where security and compliance are non-negotiable, this means added confidence that their information is protected at the highest level.
Elsewhere, SDC is also actively expanding its client base through new contracts and proven delivery as it continues to pursue the goal of becoming a national benchmark for data centre security.
“Above all, our ambition is to demonstrate that there are alternative ways to grow data centre platforms – approaches that are both commercially successful and beneficial to society as a whole,” Horn passionately concludes.
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