Data centres have become an important part of Denmark’s digital infrastructure, but also one of the most debated new energy consumers.
For Stender Innovation, the question is therefore not only whether Denmark should have more data centres, but which projects should be realised—and where.
“We need data centres if we are to continue developing digitally. That is why I think the debate should focus more on how we do it intelligently,” says Allan Egeris Arentsen, CEO of Stender Innovation.
In recent years, the company has worked on a number of data centre projects across Denmark. At the same time, that experience has led Stender Innovation to become significantly more selective about the projects it pursues.
Following dialogue with, among others, the industry and Energinet, the company has, according to Allan Egeris Arentsen, roughly halved its pipeline.
“The industry also has a responsibility to identify the projects that genuinely make sense—both for the local community providing the land and infrastructure and for Denmark as a whole. It is not about realising as many projects as possible,” he says.
Location should create synergies
That approach is reflected, among other things, in Stender Innovation’s work on a project on Lolland.
Here, the ambition is not simply to establish a major energy consumer, but to integrate the data centre with the area’s wider energy and business infrastructure.
Excess heat could, for example, be connected to the district heating system or, over time, used by other local businesses.
At the same time, energy storage options are being explored so that battery capacity can create a more flexible link between renewable energy production, the data centre and the surrounding energy system.
“I would like data centres to be possible only when there is a positive spillover effect. We work very deliberately with the question: How can the project give something back—both locally and to Denmark?” says Allan Egeris Arentsen.
More than access to power
For Stender Innovation, location is therefore becoming a decisive parameter in the development of future data centres.
Land and access to power are not enough. There also needs to be a connection between energy infrastructure, heat off-takers, local businesses and the area’s long-term development.
At the same time, the project must be viewed in a broader perspective:
How does it support Denmark’s digital development, energy system and business community?
The goal should therefore not be to build as many data centres as possible, but to develop the projects that make the most sense—for the surrounding area and for Denmark.
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