Nuclear, Nordics and new investment | Cloud Cover: August

It's time for some Cloud Cover! This month, we have a smörgåsbord of data centre news with something of a Nordic hint - we examine how Finland is betting its data centre market can grow without power subsidies, and we then head west to Norway for August's Data Centre of the Month.

We also look at the latest DC operator to turn to nuclear power, delve into some potential as-yet-seen big spending from Apple, check out market movements in Canada, and a lot more. And will we see you in Austin?

Equinix goes nuclear

Nuclear as a power option for data centres reached a tipping point into feasibility in 2025.

Several hyperscalers pledged to help triple nuclear capacity by 2050 – and are signing the deals to make it happen – and now Equinix is joining in, working with a squad of alternative energy providers to secure enough power for AI-read data centres.

Rogers offloads its Canadian data centres

Canadian carrier Rogers Communications has sold its data centre portfolio – nine Tier 2 and 3 facilities with a combined 49MW of capacity – to infrastructure asset manager InfraRed Capital Partners Ltd.

The InfraRed wallet came out thanks to the Rogers portfolio’s strong growth potential, robust fundamentals, and proven management, with the facilities serving a diverse clients base in a sustainably-growing digital economy. The transaction should be done by the end of the year – read more below.

Finland stops subsidising DC power…

Finland followed its Nordic neighbour Sweden in cutting power subsidies for data centres in March 2025 – in effect increasing energy prices over fiftyfold.

Finnish households and businesses have grappled with high electricity spot prices recently, and are prepared to punish governments at the polls for it. So the country is banking that its existing attractions to DC operators – cooler climates, educated workforce, and established case studies for heat reuse – will make them more likely to swallow non-subsidized energy.

Will it work? Capacity explores the story here.

…but the builds keep coming

But in the meantime, this hasn’t stopped DayOne , with the Singaporean company choosing the southern Finnish city of Lahti for a €1.2 billion flagship project. Construction is due to begin this autumn with a planned finish date of 2027 – here’s the full story.

Data Centre of the Month: OSL-Hamar, Green Mountain

There is a distinct Nordic flavour to this month’s Cloud Cover – not Surströmming, luckily – and it continues with Data Centre of the Month.

We head to Norway to look at Green Mountain AS - Data centres's OSL-Hamar, built specifically for TikTok to use as a European base as part of its data localisation strategy. The project is an interesting example of a hyperscaler choosing a specialised data centre developer and stepping in as a sole tenant, rather than the more established pattern recently of Google, Amazon, Meta et al building their racks themselves.

Here's the story of the build – how it happened, where the challenges lay, and what lessons the industry can learn from the TikTok-Green Mountain linkup.

Apple open to buying more AI-focused businesses, says Cook

Given it is one of the highest-profile, most forward-looking tech companies in the world, with a fat stash of data across its various businesses, Apple spends (comparatively) very little on data centres – a handful of billion dollars a year.

But a recent conference call within the company could signal a shift in direction. “We’re very open to M&A that accelerates out roadmap”, said CEO Tim Cook, specifically pointing out that having acquired mainly small companies to date doesn’t mean they won’t spend big in future. Amber Jackson at Capacity has the full story.

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See you in Austin!

The Datacloud team is heading to Texas next - Datacloud USA is shaping up to bring the big players in North American digital infrastructure to plot where the sector is heading.

The event is also held alongside Metro Fall - an autumn edition of the Metro Connect event, recognising the importance of securing adequate fibre connections to keep the everexpanding numbers of US data centres smoothly connected.

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>>> Datacloud USA x Metro Connect Fall | 15–17 Sept, Austin <<<