AI Datacenter coming online in Q2 2026 in Norway: 2025 End of the Year Construction Updates
- giorgio sbriglia
- Dec 30, 2025
- 4 min read
2025 has been the year of Gigawatts announcements. The scale of AI data center projects has shifted dramatically, with major players announcing campuses that consume more power than 4 nuclear reactors can produce. Grid power has become so constrained that most data center operators have turned to off-grid solutions with continuous onsite power generation. These "behind-the-meter" solutions—utilizing gas turbines to bypass grid connection timelines that now extend beyond 2030—have become the industry necessary survival strategy to comply with AI (horizontal) scaling laws.
However, even the shortcut of onsite generation has hit a wall. Industry chatter suggests that GE’s order book for gas turbines is effectively fully booked through 2030, a sentiment backed by reports of backlogs stretching well into the end of the decade.
The Artificial Intelligence Data Center Supply Chain Squeeze
Regardless of rumors, it is an open secret in the industry that delivery times for critical equipment have become a significant bottleneck. Lead times for transformers and generators currently average 11 months, with some cases stretching to 18 months.
The demand for Artificial Intelligence data center capacity remains insatiable. As the many large-scale data centers currently under construction progress from civil works to mechanical and electrical (M&E) fit-outs, and finally to data hall completion, supply chain pressure will only intensify. Consequently, other critical components—such as UPS systems, breakers, pumps, busbars, and CDUs—will likely suffer similar delays as these mega-projects clog their respective supply chains.
Outpacing the Market
When we received funding to upgrade our facility (end of October), we knew we had to move faster than the market. Having already power onsite, we set an ambitious six-month schedule to remove existing facilities, erect a new floor capable of supporting 2.5 tons per rack, construct a custom lake-cooling system, and install a new low-voltage electrical infrastructure (comprising generators, UPS, LV switchgear, and busbars) alongside a fresh white-space fit-out.
As of late 2025, we have erected the steel mezzanine in record time. Deliveries for the UPS and gensets are ahead of schedule; they are slated for Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) in mid January and the first half of February, respectively. This represents a remarkable delivery timeline of just 10 to 14 weeks—even with the Christmas holiday period factored in.
The Power of Flexibility
While meticulous planning was vital, flexibility was our true "X-factor," allowing us to pivot our contracting strategy in real time. The mezzanine was our most critical supply item and was originally intended as a single turnkey contract. To meet our deadline, we split the mezzanine package into six distinct sub-packages: engineering, steel sourcing/prefabrication, erection/installation, concrete foundation casting, deck installation, and finally, epoxy casting.
We didn't start with this fragmented approach. However, every time a contractor faced delays—whether due to manpower issues, manufacturing queues, or material constraints—we descoped the work and sourced directly from those with immediate availability.
This level of agility is only possible in small organizations with high talent density and a proactive mindset. Beyond our internal team’s efforts, vendor selection was paramount. Choosing the right partners was difficult, as every candidate had an outstanding track record. Ultimately, we favored partners who prioritized schedule and flexibility and avoided those that gave us the impression they may focus on claiming extra costs for every minor deviation after contract award – which would have made the project very rigid and incapable of reacting rapidly to issues.
Splitting packages has also allowed us to place several contracts to local companies, which otherwise would not have been able to compete due to the contract size. Local content was an element of success, as we created local jobs, supported the development of core competencies and provided local companies with the track record to do similar jobs. The advantage for us was speed, as all local contractors already know each other, didn’t need mobilization.
Looking Ahead to 2026
In tandem with the structural work, we have completed various Civil, Structural, and Architectural (CSA) tasks, including a partial roof refurbishment, equipment disposal, wall erection, the strengthening of existing foundations and the extension of the area in front of the facility to host the Generators by erecting a dedicated wall.
In 2026, our focus shifts toward MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing). Pre-manufacturing for the offshore piping has already begun. Installation will take place in the middle of winter, presenting unique challenges depending on the thickness of the lake’s ice.
As already mentioned, UPS and Generators are on track for FAT respectively by end of January and mid February.
Project completion now hinges on the final white-room design, specifically the CDU (Cooling Distribution Unit) solution specified by the client. If the CDU configuration is known in the first half of January, we remain on track to receive the racks by the first week of April. Indeed, we designed the facility for hosting high-density liquid cooled racks with power consumption up to 370kW per rack (inline with NVIDIA Vera Rubin CPX design for inference), with 1.05-1.08 PUE thank to our bespoke lake cooling solution. If you need data center space for your AI workloads, reach out to us.
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