Freyr is considering selling the giga factory in Mo i Rana to a data center – NRK Nordland

The company states this in the first quarterly report for 2024.

“Freyr continues to evaluate areas of use for the winter-insulated and secured Giga Arctic building and area.”

Now the company writes that they have received inquiries regarding a sale of the 75,000 square meter building located inside the Mo industrial park.

“Which includes conversion to a data center,” the report states.

The company will continue to actively assess the future of the building, which has a book value of approximately NOK 2.5 billion.

According to what NRK has learned, there should be great international interest in the building in the heart of the Mo industrial park.

In recent months, several major media such as the New York Times have been in Mo i Rana to create stories about Freyr, which in turn has created great interest in the building.

According to what NRK learns, there should have been interested parties on a tour of the building as recently as last week

Would create 1,500 jobs in Nordland

There was no shortage of optimism when Freyr announced plans for a battery factory in Mo i Rana a few years ago.

Here, Norwegian, clean hydropower was to be used to produce batteries on an industrial scale, for example electric cars, electric boats or other applications that need powerful batteries.

The company invested heavily in Mo i Rana and first built a so-called customer qualification factory – the technological heart of the company.

Here, work is currently being done to develop a completely new battery technology that could be scaled up to commercial production.

In addition, they wanted to produce the finished batteries for customers in Rana. It was to take place in the industrial building that was named Giga Arctic.

In addition, it was estimated that 1,500 jobs were needed locally.

Put the plans on hold and moved to the United States

Then the rules of the game in the renewables industry changed almost overnight, when the USA adopted the “Inflation Reduction Act”.

It provides strong incentives to produce batteries in the USA – something Freyr also considered.

This in turn led to Freyr contacting the Norwegian authorities and asking for NOK 10 billion in loans, financing arrangements and support.

But the then minister of industry Jan Christian Vestre (Ap) did not want to participate, and pointed out that Freyr had already received NOK 183 million in public support.

In November last year, the news came that many in the local community in Rana had feared: Freyr would rather invest in the USA, where they will build a factory in the state of Georgia.

A week later, it became clear that ten employees in Mo lost their jobs.

Nor did managing director Birger Steen know what would happen to the 75,000 square meter industrial building.

The building was completed last autumn and has since been kept at around 12 degrees throughout the winter in case the battery plans – or other plans – should become relevant.

Now it could possibly end up as a data centre.