Plans have been unveiled for Stargate Norway, a renewable-powered AI “gigafactory” near the northern town of Narvik, locatedabout 220 km (137 miles) north of the Arctic Circle and about 1,120 km (700 miles) north of Oslo by road.

The facility is expected to deliver 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs by the end of 2026, with expansion ambitions to make it one of Europe’s largest AI infrastructure projects. OpenAI will use the site as its first European data center under its “OpenAI for Countries” program, supporting sovereign AI workloads across Europe.

The first phase will provide 230MW of capacity, with future expansion potential of an additional 290MW. Nscale and Aker are committing US$1 billion to the initial 20MW stage, including US$250 million in equity from each partner. The project will rely on Norway’s hydropower surplus, cool climate, and established industrial base to optimize efficiency, with direct-to-chip liquid cooling and heat recovery designed into the system. The site, located in Kvandal outside Narvik, could ultimately scale tenfold as customer demand grows.

The consortium emphasized regional impact, with commitments to collaborate with universities in Northern Norway, foster local jobs, and integrate excess heat into low-carbon industries. Surplus capacity from the site will also be offered to public and private sector users across the Nordics, UK, and Northern Europe, expanding the region’s AI ecosystem.

• Stargate Norway will deliver 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs by 2026
• Initial 230MW renewable-powered capacity, expandable by 290MW
• USD 1 billion committed for first 20MW phase, including USD 250M equity each from Aker and Nscale
• Location: Kvandal, Narvik, Northern Norway
• Fully renewable, direct-to-chip liquid cooling, and heat recovery for local industry
• OpenAI’s first European gigafactory initiative under “OpenAI for Countries”

“Europe needs more compute to realize the full potential of AI for all Europeans — from developers and researchers to startups and scientists — and we want to help make that happen,” said Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI.

🌐 Why it Matters: The launch of Stargate Norway highlights the growing trend of sovereign AI infrastructure in Europe, as countries and regions seek to balance regulatory compliance, sustainability, and access to compute. With hydropower-rich Northern Norway emerging as a hub, this project underscores how energy, policy, and AI infrastructure are converging to shape Europe’s digital future.

• Aker ASA is a Norwegian industrial investment company headquartered in Oslo, with roots dating back to 1841. It manages a portfolio spanning oil and gas, renewables, engineering, and industrial technology, including Aker BP and Aker Solutions. Through its renewable arm Aker Horizons, the group focuses on sustainable industrial transformation, making large-scale AI and data infrastructure a natural extension of its energy and industry expertise.

• Nscale Global Holdings Ltd. (Nscale) is a London-based hyperscaler dedicated to sovereign-grade AI infrastructure. The company designs and operates vertically integrated, GPU-powered data centers across Europe and North America, focusing on regulatory-compliant, renewable-powered environments for AI training, fine-tuning, and inference workloads. Nscale positions itself as an alternative to U.S. cloud giants by delivering secure, scalable compute aligned with regional sovereignty requirements.

A Stargate Timeline

The Stargate project, a massive AI infrastructure initiative led by OpenAI and its partners, has seen rapid progress in 2025. Below is a timeline of key milestones and announcements for this transformative venture, poised to advance artificial general intelligence (AGI) and reshape global AI capabilities.

• January 21, 2025: Official announcement of Stargate LLC (also called the Stargate Project) as a new company, formalized at a White House press conference by U.S. President Donald Trump, with attendance from OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son. The project scales up to a $500 billion investment over four years (initial $100 billion deployment), focusing on U.S.-based AI infrastructure for OpenAI. Key partners include SoftBank (financial lead, with Son as chairman), OpenAI (operational lead), Oracle, MGX (equity funders), and technology partners like Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA. Buildout starts in Texas, with goals for AGI development, job creation, re-industrialization, and national security. This marks a shift from exclusive Microsoft reliance.
• January 23, 2025: Sam Altman shares a video update on X showing early progress at Stargate Site 1 in Texas, highlighting the scale of construction.
• January 31, 2025: OpenAI issues Requests for Proposals (RFP) and Qualifications (RFQ) for potential partners in land, power, and architecture/engineering for Stargate sites, signaling active expansion and collaboration outreach

• May 9, 2025: Oracle shares a video update on X, showcasing significant construction progress at the Stargate data center site in Abilene, Texas, highlighting the project’s ambitious scale and pace.
• May 16, 2025: The “Stargate UAE” AI data center is announced in the United Arab Emirates, a collaboration between NVIDIA, Cisco, OpenAI, Oracle, SoftBank, and G42. Set to open in 2026, this marks Stargate’s first international milestone.
• May 21, 2025: Stargate secures $11.6 billion in funding to support the construction of its expansive data center in Abilene, Texas, reinforcing financial momentum for the project.
• May 22, 2025: JPMorgan Chase commits a $2.3 billion loan to fund the development of 10 data centers in Abilene, Texas, further bolstering Stargate’s infrastructure buildout.
• May 23, 2025: OpenAI’s Sam Altman announces the UAE collaboration for Stargate UAE, acknowledging Sheikh Tahnoon’s support and emphasizing strong governmental backing for the initiative.
• July 22, 2025: OpenAI and Oracle unveil a partnership to add 4.5 gigawatts of Stargate data center capacity in the U.S., bringing the total to over 5 GW. This expansion is projected to create over 100,000 jobs. Sam Altman shares progress photos from Abilene, noting the site’s activation for next-generation AI research and plans to surpass the initial $500 billion investment goal.

🌐 We’re tracking the latest Stargate developments at: https://convergedigest.com/?s=Stargate