Cheap power set to attract Asian tech companies to Arctic circle

[STOCKHOLM] Asian technology companies are set to follow Google Inc and Facebook Inc in putting data centres near the Arctic circle to benefit from the lowest power prices in Europe, according to utility Vattenfall AB.

Internet services from China, Korea, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia will probably be next to take advantage of an expected record electricity glut in the Nordic region, Oskar Almen, vice-president for business development at Sweden's largest power producer, said by phone from Stockholm last Wednesday. Google opened a data centre in Hamina, Finland, in 2011, while Facebook started its first overseas server in Luleaa, Sweden, last year.

Streaming services for movies, pictures and data are set to double global demand for server halls, requiring more than 500 terawatt-hours of power by 2025, or almost as much as Germany's annual demand, according to Vattenfall. Energy use in Southeast Asia alone is expected to increase 80 per cent by 2035, International Energy Agency (IEA) data shows.