Executive Summary

• Data Centre Insight’s Chief Editor, Lauren Raybould, sat down with Anna Kristín Pálsdóttir, Chief Development Officer of atNorth, to discuss heat reuse, transforming waste heat into sustainable civic infrastructure, the perception of data centres in local communities and their partnership with Kesko and their FIN02 site.
• Pálsdóttir explains that atNorth utilises a modular design approach to move beyond “fortress-like” layouts, allowing heat reuse technology to be fitted as standard to support circular economy partnerships like the one with Kesko.
• Rather than rigid mandates from city planners, atNorth advocates for long-term coordination between stakeholders and governments to integrate data centres into regional energy systems and accelerate the transition to a sustainable digital future.

1) Traditional data centres are built like fortresses. To facilitate the physical heat transfer to a neighbouring retail store, did atNorth have to rethink the physical architecture or site layout of FIN02?

While data centres have traditionally been perceived as “fortress-like”, this has been primarily driven by security and resilience requirements rather than architectural rigidity.

The expectation today is for data centres to be more adaptive and AI-ready as workloads accelerate demand. For atNorth, time to market is a critical factor for customers, which is why our facilities are built on a modular design approach that enables scalability while remaining flexible for evolving innovation in heat reuse technologies as well as hardware, rack architecture or cooling technologies.

atNorth data centres are fitted with heat reuse equipment as standard as part of our reference design and wider data centre blueprint for the future. As a result atNorth’s FIN02 data centre was able to operationalise the heat reuse partnership with Kesko swiftly once the campus became operational.

2) In this partnership, are we seeing the birth of “Thermal Philanthropy”? For data centres, will providing this heat be primarily a community/sustainability benefit, or is this a new revenue model where “waste heat” is becoming a billable commodity for the data centre?

Heat reuse is first and foremost part of our commitment to responsible and sustainable operations – something that is becoming increasingly critical in land acquisition for data centre development. These initiatives enable customers to decarbonise their IT workloads, reduce reliance on district heating, reduce the carbon footprint of the receiving organisation and contribute to a circular economy.

Ultimately, it reflects a broader shift in how data centres are evaluated, not just as digital infrastructure, but as part of wider energy and environmental systems.

3) Data centres often face “NIMBY” resistance due to noise or power consumption. Have you found that being a “thermal provider” to a local brand fundamentally changes the local sentiment?

Securing and developing data centre sites today increasingly depends on demonstrating a clear and credible commitment to environmental and social value creation. Heat reuse is an important part of this, but it sits within a much wider initiative in how digital infrastructure is integrated into society.

We see data centres evolving into anchor infrastructure within local ecosystems and communities – versus isolated “fortress-like” facilities. The ability to prove sustainability credentials is increasingly becoming a requirement at the land procurement stage. Heat reuse is a core factor – however, we believe that there is a bigger trend that defines how digital infrastructure integrates with society.

atNorth’s vision is for data centre ecosystems; civic infrastructure at the heart of thriving societies, bringing economic investment, jobs, heat reuse partnerships, a care for the natural landscape and community support to the areas in which they operate. An example of this impact can be seen in Akureyri, Iceland, where atNorth’s investment helped facilitate a new point of presence (PoP), strengthening the reliability and security of the region’s telecoms network.

Beyond infrastructure outcomes, we also place strong emphasis on environmental stewardship and community engagement. A significant portion of our DEN02 campus in Denmark is dedicated to biodiversity restoration. In addition, atNorth supports local initiatives such as children’s swimming lessons in Finland, cultural festivals and sports teams in Iceland, and emerging athletic talent such as young Icelandic skier participation in the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Taken together, these initiatives reflect a broader philosophy: data centres should create long-term, tangible value for the communities in which they operate.

4) This partnership bridges the gap between the Industrial and Commercial sectors. From atNorth’s perspective, should city planners start mandating that all new high-density data centres be built within a certain radius of “community heat-sinks” like retail hubs or residential blocks?

Data centres are evolving from a hidden utility into essential civic infrastructure that should be embedded within national and regional planning frameworks. As digital demand accelerates, they play a critical role in enabling economic growth, supporting innovation, and underpinning the energy transition. atNorth believes this shift presents an opportunity to more clearly recognise data centres as foundational to modern society and a sustainable future.

Rather than mandating proximity rules, the more effective approach is long-term coordination between stakeholders, including municipalities, regulators, energy providers, industry bodies, and developers. Governmental support is critical to enabling sustainable growth, particularly by ensuring faster, more predictable grid connections and more efficient permitting processes that accelerate time to market and promote local integration. Alongside this, ongoing investment in energy infrastructure, workforce skills, and policy frameworks that recognise data centres as critical infrastructure, including support for initiatives such as heat reuse, will enable digital infrastructure to scale sustainably in line with demand, as well as provide tangible benefits to the areas in which they are located.

5) As AI drives up rack densities and heat output, there is a public fear of the “environmental impact” of compute. Does atNorth see a version of the future where the higher the AI workload, the greater the benefit to the local community in terms of subsidised or low-carbon heating?

As AI accelerates digitalisation, the infrastructure supporting it must evolve in parallel to remain sustainable and socially integrated.

We see a future where the responsibility of data centre operators extends beyond efficient operation into active participation in local energy systems. The greater the integration between data centres and surrounding infrastructure, the more opportunity there is to create shared value – whether through heat reuse, grid services, or improved energy efficiency.

As such, we continue to explore how deeper integration and new innovation – particularly around heat reuse – can facilitate this. In the future, it is not entirely out of the question to imagine highly efficient, deeply integrated data centres with net positive environmental impact.

6) With successful projects now in Finland, Iceland, and Denmark, what is the biggest technical or regulatory hurdle atNorth faces when trying to “plug” a data centre into a local community ecosystem?

There are two primary challenges in integrating data centres into broader community and energy ecosystems.

Firstly, successful integration necessitates long-term coordination, planning and collaboration with multiple stakeholders.

Secondly, data centre companies must clearly demonstrate the environmental and societal value and positive contributions that their operations can have in order to acquire land and planning approval for development. This requires moving beyond operational efficiency alone and actively evidencing contributions such as heat reuse, community integration and local economic impact.

In markets like the Nordics, progress is enabled by aligned policy frameworks, established district heating infrastructure, and strong energy-market fundamentals. However, even here, continued collaboration remains essential to fully unlock the potential of integrated digital and energy systems.