T1 Energy wins approval to convert Norwegian solar campus into 50MW data center

US solar manufacturer T1 Energy has received approval from local authorities to convert part of its Giga Arctic solar manufacturing campus in Mo i Rana, Norway, into a data center, marking the company's first move into the digital infrastructure sector.

The Mo i Rana municipal government approved a permit on Thursday to rezone 161,000 sq ft (15,000 sqm) of the Giga Arctic site for industrial use or data center operations. The remainder of the 926,000 sq ft (86,028 sqm) campus will stay zoned for industrial development, though that designation could change once additional grid capacity is allocated to the site.

The planned data center is slated to have an initial capacity of 50MW and could become operational as early as next year, with room for future expansion. T1 said it holds a position in the local grid capacity queue for 396MW and believes the existing building at the site offers sufficient space to accommodate a facility of that scale.

The company holds a 50-year lease at Giga Arctic, with an option to extend. The site sits within an industrial park in northern Norway and, according to T1, benefits from access to low-cost energy supplied by the region's hydropower assets.

T1 said it is now in discussions with potential clients about monetizing the site, which was originally built as a solar and battery energy storage manufacturing facility.

"The people of Mo i Rana, Norway, today took a step towards the future and showed leadership in a future of AI and technology abundance with the approval of T1 Energy's plan to convert Giga Arctic into a world-class data center. We are in active discussions with multiple counterparties to find a strategy to unlock shareholder value," said Dan Barcelo, T1 Energy's chairman and CEO.

T1 was formerly known as Freyr Battery and changed its name in 2025, shifting its focus from battery factory construction to developing domestic US solar manufacturing. The Giga Arctic site was first announced in 2022 under the Freyr name, but the company later dropped its battery factory plans following the strategic pivot. The data center project would be T1's first in the sector.

The approval highlights a growing trend of industrial manufacturers repurposing existing facilities for data center use, particularly in regions with abundant renewable energy. For T1, the conversion offers a path to generate revenue from an asset originally built for a different purpose, while for Mo i Rana, it brings new economic activity to the region's industrial base.