Data centres are evolving from a specialised property type into an increasingly important part of digital infrastructure. That also changes the developer’s role, as both local and national considerations must be addressed.
For Thylander, a Danish approach is therefore not only about ownership, but also about how the project is developed and how decision-making power is exercised when building critical infrastructure.
“Not having Danish-owned data centres is like leaving your key under the doormat.”
“Ownership is not just symbolic. It is influence,” says Bjarke Mikkelsen, Managing Partner & CEO at Thylander.
According to Mikkelsen, that influence includes decisions about location, architecture, quality and how the data centre is integrated with the power grid, utilities and the local community.
Thylander is therefore seeking to transfer experience from traditional real estate development to a sector in which technical infrastructure plays a much larger role.
Esbjerg was chosen for its infrastructure
Thylander’s first data centre project, DDC1—Danish Data Center 1—in Esbjerg demonstrates this approach in practice.
The original idea was to investigate whether Ørsted’s former coal-fired power plant at the Port of Esbjerg could be converted into a data centre. The building itself proved unsuitable, but the work highlighted the value of the existing infrastructure surrounding the area.
The power plant had been built to generate electricity and feed it into the grid. The electrical infrastructure was therefore already in place, while the area also offered proximity to district heating and other local stakeholders.
A nearby site instead became the starting point for the project.
According to Anders Frich Mathiesen, Partner and CEO of Thylander Data Center, it is precisely this kind of interdependence that makes data centre development complex.
Power, fibre, district heating, permitting, the site and local partners all have to mature in parallel before an investment decision can be made.
Site selection therefore becomes more than a search for a large, vacant plot. The existing infrastructure around the site can be just as important as the plot itself.
Bjarke Mikkelsen also points out that Thylander looks for locations with access to energy and where the data centre’s consumption can be integrated with the wider energy infrastructure.
Resources must create value beyond the site
Local integration does not stop with the location.
Data centres convert large amounts of electricity into heat. In Esbjerg, Thylander shares the investment in the integration with Din Forsyning and then makes the excess heat available free of charge to the local district heating utility.
How that value ultimately benefits consumers is determined by the utility. For Thylander, however, the principle is that a resource the data centre produces in any case should, wherever possible, be used beyond the site itself.
Cooling has also been designed with this approach in mind. According to Thylander, the project is based on a closed-loop cooling system in which the water circulates within the system instead of being continuously replaced.
According to Bjarke Mikkelsen, this is part of what the company describes as a Danish identity: the resources surrounding the project should not be viewed only as an internal operational matter, but also in relation to the area of which the data centre becomes a part.
The same thinking applies to the construction itself.
In Esbjerg, Thylander is working with timber in the structure where technically feasible and safe. Experience from conventional real estate development can therefore be transferred to the data centre, even though the requirements for technical infrastructure and operations are different.
Local ties should remain visible after construction
For Thylander, local integration is not only about the dialogue before construction begins.
The company also wants to use local and Danish suppliers where it makes sense, both during construction and later in the operational phase.
Anders Frich Mathiesen points, among other things, to the value of having technical companies close to the site. Data centre operations require a rapid response, while quality and documentation must also be in place.
At the same time, this can help Danish companies build expertise that can later be applied to other data centre projects.
For Bjarke Mikkelsen, this is an important part of the discussion about Danish ownership. It is not only about where the returns ultimately go, but also about where decisions are made and where technical expertise is built.
“If we only act as hosts for other nations’ infrastructure, we do not have a seat at the table when decisions are made,” says Bjarke Mikkelsen.
At the same time, he emphasises that the point is not that every data centre in Denmark necessarily has to be Danish-owned.
In Thylander’s view, international players can also develop projects according to the same principles.
What matters is how the project is developed: how it relates to the energy system, water consumption, utilities and the local community—and whether it leaves behind more than the data centre itself once it is completed.
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