Volkswagen : has opened a new computer center in Norway that operates sustainably and climate-neutrally on 100 percent electricity from hydroelectric power. ...

'We support the digitalization in all areas of the Volkswagen Group,' says Mario Müller, head of IT Integration and Services at Volkswagen Group. 'The demand for computing capability in the company is growing along with new technologies and digital forms of cooperation. That's why we are continuously adding to our capacity.' Mario Müller justifies the decision in favor of Green Mountain this way: 'Both business operation aspects as well as sustainability are important to us. The new computer center in Norway is compelling on both counts. The operation is economical and wholly climate-neutral.' The Group already operates a climate-neutral computer center in Iceland (Reykjanesbaer). That location is about the same size as its counterpart in Norway and saves around 6,200 tons of CO₂ a year.

'Large quantities of hydroelectric power are at our disposal here in Rjukan,' says Ole Sten Volland, Green Mountain CTO, during a tour around the facility. No fewer than six hydroelectric power plants in the mountains - one above ground and five underground - are located in close proximity to the computer center. Five percent of Norway's total energy is produced here in the valley, the two times 500 megawatt supply connection to the national power grid is less than a kilometer away. 'It's highly unlikely that we will ever have a power supply problem here in the valley,' says Volland.