Thor Datacenter

Environment

Situated up in the North Atlantic, Iceland occupies a unique position in the data center world. With abundant geothermal and hydroelectric energy sources, this rugged island is the site of the cleanest energy in the world.

Clean and renewable …zero carbon footprint!

In Iceland, we have many sayings about the weather, particularly about the rain and the wind, the two most prevalent elements in Iceland’s climate. One such refers to variety:

“If you don´t like the weather in Iceland, just wait a moment.”

The fact is, Iceland´s geographic location provides plenty of both water and wind, usually in combinations. The former is used to generate energy, from either hydroelectric dams (for further information, see the website for Landsvirkjun, Iceland´s National Energy Company, www.landsvirkjun.com) or, in super-heated form as steam in geothermal power plants, such as the one pictured above (see Reykjavik Energy website, http://www.or.is/English). The second one, wind, provides a steady supply of natural cooling and helps to keep temperatures down. Something tourists are regularly reminded of when visiting.

One of Iceland´s many water powered powerplants

Clean energy

It is in this temperate climate that the ideal circumstances for data centers are born. The energy is clean, and renewable. Pollution from energy production is non-existent and the carbon footprint is absolutely zero. Natural free cooling, amply provided by Kári (an Icelandic nick name for the wind), is used to control temperatures inside the data center, and helps to keep costs down. The average temperature at the data center location is 1.8°C in January and 10°C in July.

Situated midway between Europe and United States, Thor Data Center is well placed as a stepping stone between the two. Not only can our customers save on energy and improve their carbon footprint, they can also minimize bandwith usage and network latency.

Iceland is connected to the world by three sub-sea cables that function together as single system. They are called FarIce (named after the first two islands on that cable, Iceland and Faroe Islands), DanIce (Denmark-Iceland) and Greenland Connect, which connects Iceland, Greenland and Canada. The utilization on these cables is low and the bandwith is plentiful.

Hooked up to the world

For further information about the Icelandic climate, see http://en.vedur.is/.