Polar adds 40MW AI-ready expansion at Norway campus

Polar Data Centers plans a new 40MW AI-ready facility, DRA02, at its Drangedal campus in Norway to serve rising demand from hyperscale, cloud and AI customers. The expansion builds on DRA01 and adds direct liquid cooling, renewable hydro power and more than 21,300 square metres of technical space.

Why it matters: - DRA02 expands Polar Data Centers’ Drangedal campus with more AI-ready capacity for hyperscale, cloud and artificial intelligence workloads. - The project targets demand for infrastructure that can handle higher power density, advanced cooling and more complex compute environments. - The expansion is part of Polar’s broader push to build sustainable, high-performance digital infrastructure across Europe.

What happened: - Polar Data Centers announced DRA02, a new 40MW AI-ready data center at its flagship campus in Drangedal, Norway. - The company said DRA02 is the next phase of its long-term strategy to develop AI infrastructure across Europe. - DRA02 follows the existing DRA01 facility at the same campus. - Andy Hayes, CEO of Polar Data Centres, said the project reflects continued investment in sustainable, high-performance data center infrastructure in Norway.

The details: - DRA02 will deliver approximately 40MW of IT capacity. - The facility will span more than 21,300 square metres of technical space. - Direct liquid cooling is built into the design. - The campus is designed to support the latest GPU technologies and chipsets. - Polar says the critical infrastructure and customer space are engineered for current and future generations of AI hardware. - The facility will run on renewable Norwegian hydroelectric energy. - Polar says Norway’s renewable power, stable grid and climate make Drangedal suitable for large-scale AI and cloud deployments. - The company describes the campus expansion as customer-led, with facilities shaped around current and future technology requirements.

Between the lines: - The move shows how data center developers are racing to build power- and cooling-intensive infrastructure for AI demand. - Polar is positioning itself around sustainability as a differentiator, pairing renewable energy with AI-focused engineering. - The Drangedal campus appears designed to serve customers that need both near-term capacity and room for future hardware upgrades.

What's next: - Construction of DRA02 is under way as part of Polar’s wider European growth strategy. - Once complete, the expanded Drangedal campus will offer one of Europe’s most advanced environments for AI, cloud and high-performance computing workloads. - Polar says it will continue developing AI-ready infrastructure that combines sustainability, performance and long-term operational excellence.

The bottom line: - Polar is adding another major AI-ready site in Norway to meet growing compute demand with renewable power, liquid cooling and scalable design.