Denmark's New Harvest: Data Centers Are Now Powering Food Security

ØLGOD, Denmark – August 11, 2026 – In the small Danish town of Ølgod, a new kind of ecosystem is taking root. It’s a place where the immense heat generated by digital servers will soon nurture rows of fresh, local produce. This isn't science fiction; it's the tangible outcome of a landmark partnership between Nordic data center provider atNorth and sustainable infrastructure developer Selected Group. The two have joined forces to channel surplus heat from atNorth’s forthcoming DEN02 data center directly into a large-scale greenhouse complex, a move that promises to bolster Denmark's food security, slash carbon emissions, and create a powerful blueprint for the future of industrial symbiosis.

While data centers are often criticized as colossal energy consumers, this project reframes the narrative, turning a problematic byproduct—waste heat—into a critical resource. For a country like Denmark, which imports the majority of its fresh fruits and vegetables, particularly during the harsh winter months, the ability to sustain year-round local cultivation is a strategic game-changer.

The Circular Economy in Action

The partnership represents a masterclass in circular economy principles. Traditionally, data centers spend vast amounts of energy not only on computation but also on cooling the servers that power our digital lives. The resulting hot air or water is typically vented into the atmosphere as waste. Simultaneously, conventional greenhouses in cold climates burn fossil fuels to maintain growing temperatures, releasing significant amounts of CO2. The atNorth-Selected Group model elegantly closes this loop.

"This partnership demonstrates exactly what responsible digital infrastructure should look like," said Eyjólfur Magnús Kristinsson, CEO of atNorth. "By collaborating with forward-thinking organizations like Selected Group, we can transform surplus heat into a valuable resource that supports local food production, reduces carbon emissions and strengthens community resilience."

The environmental implications are substantial. By replacing fossil-fuel heating with recycled data center heat, the project avoids significant carbon emissions. This aligns perfectly with mounting regulatory pressure from the European Union. The EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) now mandates that large data centers report their energy performance and analyze options for utilizing their excess heat. With the EU aiming for data center carbon neutrality by 2030, and a 2025 technical report revealing that a mere 1.9% of heat from EU data centers is currently reused, the Ølgod initiative is not just innovative—it's essential.

Peter Nielsen, CEO of Selected Group, emphasized the broader vision. "Every unit of surplus heat should create value," he stated. "Reducing dependence on imported produce strengthens national food resilience, shortens supply chains, and removes the emissions associated with transporting fresh produce across borders. We believe this model can be replicated wherever large-scale data centers are built."

A Blueprint for Local Prosperity

Beyond its environmental merits, the project is a significant economic catalyst for the Ølgod community. The development represents a major local investment that promises to create meaningful jobs during both its construction, scheduled for completion in Q3 2028, and its long-term operations.

To understand the potential impact, one need only look at Selected Group’s existing project in Frövi, Sweden. There, the company developed a 100,000-square-meter greenhouse that leverages surplus heat from a local paper mill. That facility, which is already undergoing expansion, produces 8,000 tons of tomatoes annually and has created over 100 new, permanent jobs in the community. The success in Frövi provides a proven roadmap for Ølgod, demonstrating how large-scale industrial projects can be integrated to foster local prosperity, from direct employment to supporting infrastructure and housing for a growing workforce.

The greenhouse facilities in Ølgod will be built immediately adjacent to the DEN02 data center, creating a tightly integrated physical and economic ecosystem. The project is designed to scale in tandem with the data center's own development, ensuring a flexible and future-proof model for sustainable industrial growth in the region.

The Data Center's New Mandate

The timing of this initiative is critical. The global data center industry is at an inflection point, with the explosion of artificial intelligence driving an unprecedented surge in energy demand. Projections indicate global data center electricity consumption could more than double from 448 TWh in 2025 to 980 TWh by 2030, placing immense strain on power grids and climate goals. In this high-stakes environment, sustainability is no longer a marketing buzzword but a license to operate.

While other tech giants like Microsoft and Google are pursuing heat reuse for district heating, the atNorth and Selected Group model offers a compelling alternative focused on the food supply chain. By designing for heat reuse from the ground up, atNorth is positioning itself as a leader in a sector grappling with its environmental footprint. The company, recently acquired in a multi-billion dollar deal, has a clear strategy of embedding its infrastructure within local communities, with similar heat reuse partnerships already active in Finland and Sweden for district and commercial heating.

This project, however, pushes the boundary further by directly tackling food security. As digital infrastructure becomes ever more critical, so does its responsibility to contribute positively to the communities it inhabits. The Ølgod project serves as a powerful demonstration that data centers can evolve from being isolated energy consumers into integrated, value-generating community assets.