Iceland is set to become the next hot location for data center services and green energy sources; the Asbru Enterprise Park in Keflavik will lead the way for companies across the globe.
The partnering group of wholesale data developer Verne Global, Verne Holdings, has signed a contract with the Wellcome Trust to help the completion of a 44-acre data center campus at the Asbru Enterprise Park in Iceland. With Iceland’s favourable natural attributes and renewable energy resources, Verne Global could save customers as much as USD 100 million in ten years on energy costs alone.
“What makes Verne Global unique is that it is able to offer its customers a cost effective, yet truly green solution to their data center needs by providing the benefits of Iceland’s 100 percent free cooling, renewable energy resources and predictable forecasting of energy pricing,” explained Jeff Monroe, CEO of Verne Global. “Together, Verne Global and the Wellcome Trust are creating a powerful solution that enables data center users the opportunity to go green without paying a price premium.”
A new Icelandic project titled Greenqloud is also in the pipelines, the idea behind Greenqloud is to rent space in data centers located in Iceland and sell cloud computing services to web companies and individuals across the world. However, what makes this project unique is that it embraces the use of clean power and manages company carbon footprint levels. The cloud computing services include virtual server hosting, data storage, scientific data processing and software as a service infrastructure.
Greenqloud is also in discussions with Verne Global, amongst various data center operators in Iceland, about data center construction. Eirikur Hrafnsson, CEO of Greenqloud, says that there has been a recent “gold rush” as a result of the devaluation of the Icelandic Krona, the IT history of the country and the emission-free power grid.
Greenqloud plans to launch its beta service by the fourth quarter of this year on a small scale. After that, Greenqloud wants to launch on a much larger, public scale in 2011.
Other high-profile international customers are also using Iceland’s growing data centers; Web browser developer Opera Software has been announced as the first customer of the Thor Data Center in Hafnarfjordur.
“The reason Opera Software came to sign an agreement with Thor Data Center is that the company can offer us energy from 100 percent renewable sources,” said Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner, founder of Opera Software.
To find out more regarding data center services and geothermal energy in Iceland visit http://asbru.is/English/Energy/