Verne Global, a wholesale data-centre hosting company, has searched the world for a location offering cheap power, easy cooling and reliable communications – Iceland’s unlimited renewable energy, cool temperatures and soon-to-be four transoceanic cables proves to be the ideal environment.
Verne Global has decided to set up their headquarters at the Asbru Enterprise Park, in Keflavik, Iceland. This enterprise park has been redeveloped from the abandoned North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) air force base, originally closed in 2006. Asbru Enterprise Park has re-invented a community of entrepreneurs and businesses; Verne Global being one of many. The data hosting company now holds two centres converted from ammunition storage depots.
Iceland was chosen as the ideal location as the country’s unlimited geothermal activity can power data centres for incredibly cheap, where as areas in the United States energy prices are routinely a worry.
“You might be able to find a place in the U.S. that has relatively cheap power, but the volatility (of those prices) is the problem,” Jeff Monroe , CEO of Verne Global, explains. While some states, such as Iowa, are banking on their renewable energy projects, “if you have energy that is 20 cents a kilowatt-hour, no one is going to go there because it is too expensive,” he says.
Verne Global calculates approximately that a mid-sized company requiring 20,000 to 25,000 servers could save around $100 million in a decade by moving to Iceland.
“Iceland allows companies to go green and save money at the same time…In Iceland, there is no cost to going green,” Monroe states.
To find out more information about the Asbru Enterprise Park visit http://asbru.is/English
