Norway’s data centres will be the focus of a new public-private initiative aimed at reducing energy use and making better use of the electricity consumed by the rapidly growing sector. The Norwegian government announced on 10 August that it will bring authorities and industry representatives together to develop common objectives and measures, including greater reuse of surplus heat and a possible energy labelling scheme.
The initiative will be coordinated by the Norwegian Communications Authority (Nasjonal kommunikasjonsmyndighet, Nkom) and follows the government’s national data centre strategy, published in 2025.
Norway wants more value from the electricity used by data centres
Data centres are increasingly important for cloud services, digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence, but they also require substantial amounts of electricity. The Norwegian government said the new cooperation should help reduce energy consumption while increasing the economic value created from the electricity that data centres use.
Minister of Digitalisation and Public Governance (Digitaliserings- og forvaltningsminister) Karianne Tung said data centres are an important part of digital infrastructure and contribute to economic development, while their high electricity consumption means the sector also needs to become more sustainable over time.
The government has asked Nkom to begin discussions with data centre operators and industry organisations. Authorities and companies are expected to identify shared priorities and measures, with the government planning to have a cooperation agreement prepared during 2026.
Among the issues under consideration is a possible energy labelling scheme for data centres, which could provide a common way of assessing their energy performance.
Surplus heat is becoming part of Norway’s data centre policy
A central element of the initiative is the reuse of surplus heat produced by data centres. Servers generate large amounts of heat that must normally be removed through cooling systems, but part of this energy can instead be transferred to district heating networks or other nearby users.
Norway’s 2025 data centre strategy already identifies increased reuse of surplus heat as a policy objective. New data centres with a capacity above 2 MW have been required since April 2025 to conduct a cost-benefit analysis examining whether their surplus heat can be reused.
There are already projects applying this approach. According to the government’s data centre strategy, surplus heat from Skygard’s data centre in Oslo’s Hovinbyen district is expected to be integrated into Hafslund Celsio’s district heating network and could eventually provide heat equivalent to the needs of up to 12,000 apartments. Heat from a Stack Infrastructure facility at Ulven is also used in Oslo’s district heating system.
Energy efficiency is becoming a condition for further growth
The initiative is part of a broader attempt to reconcile Norway’s attractiveness for data centre investment with constraints on electricity supply, grid capacity and environmental impact.
Norway offers conditions that are particularly favourable to data centres, including relatively low outside temperatures and extensive access to renewable electricity. At the same time, the government’s strategy acknowledges that larger facilities can consume very substantial amounts of power and occupy significant areas.
Norwegian rules have therefore also introduced mandatory energy audits for companies with average annual energy consumption above 2.5 GWh. The first audits must be completed by 1 October 2026, with companies required to identify economically viable measures to reduce energy consumption.
The government says it still wants a Norwegian data centre sector that generates jobs and economic activity while strengthening digital security. The new public-private cooperation suggests that energy efficiency and the productive use of electricity will increasingly become part of how Norway evaluates the sector’s future growth, rather than treating access to renewable power alone as sufficient.
