Excellent start to the year: Esbjerg gets a climate-focused data center

Esbjerg will get a climate-focused retail colocation data center in 2027 on a building plot in Kjersing. A project that is being created in collaboration between several actors: ECO-LocaXion is responsible for development and future operation, Sampension has invested in the 10 ha. of land and is the developer, while DIN Forsyning utilizes the heat in the district heating network. Esbjerg Municipality has thus succeeded in its vision of attracting more data centers to the city.

– The news is an excellent start to the year for Esbjerg. The investment in an upcoming data center confirms that our targeted strategy to attract data centers is bearing fruit. With access to international data connections and the supply of green, stable energy, we have created the foundation for a digital powerhouse – not just for Denmark, but for all of Northern Europe, says Mayor Jesper Frost Rasmussen and continues:

– The new jobs, some of which will certainly attract highly educated tech talents, fit perfectly with our ambitions to help shape the digital infrastructure of the future.
This is supported by Karsten Rieder, Director of Business Esbjerg.

– The investment combines two large and important focus areas: Attraction of data centers and green transition. The data center has a vision to be one of the most climate-conscious ever. It is an extra emphasis on Esbjerg as an energy metropolis and digital hub. This is really joyful news for the city.

Attractive investment

For Sampension, the investment fits well into the pension company's strategy to seek investments that both take sustainability into account and at the same time ensure attractive returns for pension customers:

– We are very pleased to collaborate with ECO-LocaXion, Esbjerg Municipality, and DIN Forsyning on the development of this data center, where the heat can be used in the district heating network and thus not wasted. In addition, we will also focus on other sustainability considerations in the development of the data center, including reducing the climate footprint from the construction of the facility. At the same time, we see great potential in the data center segment in general, and overall this investment case has a very attractive return potential, says Torbjørn Lange, Head of Real Estate and Infrastructure at Sampension.

8,000 square meter data center

ECO-LocaXion, which is responsible for the actual development, specializes in constructing climate-focused data centers. Construction will start at the end of 2025, early 2026.

– We are happy and proud that the collaboration has fallen into place for us as a start-up company, and that the municipality, DIN Forsyning, and Sampension have been ready to support such a financially heavy project from a very early stage. This means that we can build an 8,000 square meter data center at 30 MW, says Gitte Jensen, founder of ECO-LocaXion ApS, and continues:

– This gives us the opportunity to create a unique symbiosis between two infrastructures, namely the digital one, which we belong to, and the district heating, which DIN Forsyning belongs to.

– We target mid-high density customers. Our innovative concept makes it possible to create benefits for the environment, society, and customers. And fortunately, the three parties have bought into that.

Important partnerships

The utility company DIN Forsyning supplies district heating to about 25,500 households in Esbjerg and Varde. And they have entered into an agreement on sector coupling in a circular process between the district heating network and the data center.

– At DIN Forsyning, we have a long-term strategy to avoid waste and use society's resources wisely. Sector coupling as well as partnerships play a crucial role in making this possible, and therefore we are very pleased to enter into this partnership with Sampension and ECO-LocaXion to utilize the heat from the upcoming data center in our district heating network. Here we can succeed in using resources that are surplus to others, rather than having to produce district heating ourselves.