Data Center Knowledge

Iceland: Cheap Power, But Some Risk

Posted By Rich Miller On February 12, 2007 @ 12:43 am In Power | Comments Disabled

Google’s announcements of its data center projects in North Carolina [1] and South Carolina [2] have prompted speculation about where we might next see a Google dataplex. Tom Foremski at Silicon Valley Watcher [3]suggests that Google might consider Iceland as a destination:
Energy is virtually free in Iceland because of all the geothermal hotspots there. Very cheap electric power attracts aluminum smelters. But where there are aluminum smelters GOOG is not far behind these days. GOOG also wants cheap electric power for its data centers, and that is why it is building a massive data center in Oregon, tapping into cheap(er) hydroelectric power. How long before GOOG data centers spring up in Iceland?

The folks at Invest in Iceland have already considered this, and have a page on their web site touting Iceland as an affordable destination for data center development [4], complete with a PDF brochure [5] summarizing a cost study from KPMG. Iceland is located on a major submarine cable route and has a digital phone system.

So why isn’t Iceland already overrun with data centers? Let’s not forget the source of all that geothermal energy: Iceland sits atop an active volcanic rift. Cheap power, great connectivity and volcanic eruptions [6]. Some companies operate data centers in Iceland, such as the Reykjav”k-based online game EVE Online. But I’m not sure Google’s ready to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build a server farm atop a volcano.

About Rich Miller [7]

Rich Miller is the founder and editor-in-chief of Data Center Knowledge, and has been reporting on the data center sector since 2000. He has tracked the growing impact of high-density computing on the power and cooling of data centers, and the resulting push for improved energy efficiency in these facilities.

Article printed from Data Center Knowledge: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com

URL to article: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2007/02/12/iceland-cheap-power-but-some-risk/

URLs in this post:

[1] North Carolina: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2007/Jan/19/google_picks_nc_for_600m_data_center.html

[2] South Carolina: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2007/Jan/20/google_planning_two_huge_sc_facilities.html

[3] Silicon Valley Watcher : http://www.siliconvalleywatcher.com/mt/archives/2007/02/icelands_geo_ho.php

[4] affordable destination for data center development: http://www.invest.is/key-sectors/it-telecome-in-iceland/data-centers-in-iceland/

[5] PDF brochure: http://www.invest.is/files/823136716Secure%20location.pdf

[6] volcanic eruptions: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3982273.stm

[7] Rich Miller: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/author/richm/

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