Magnora has joined a joint venture for a data center project in Estonia, partnering with renewable energy developer Sunly to secure sustainable power supply.
European data center developer Magnora has acquired a stake in a joint venture for a new facility in Estonia. This week, Magnora Data Center announced an agreement with integrated energy infrastructure company Sunly AS to purchase a 50 percent interest in the Risti Kampus data center project. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The site is situated in western Estonia, approximately 60 kilometers (37 miles) south of Tallinn and 150 kilometers (93.2 miles) south of Helsinki. According to Magnora, the first phase of development will total 180 megawatts, with the campus ultimately scaling to 400 megawatts.
The Euronext Growth Oslo-listed company noted that the Risti campus will connect directly to the national power grid and to Sunly’s adjacent energy park. The park features 244 megawatt-peak (MWp) of solar capacity, alongside 144 megawatts of battery energy storage systems (BESS) and 44 megawatts of wind power, all currently under development.
Magnora holds an option to increase its joint venture stake to 75 percent. “We look forward to develop this powered land and data center project together with local and regional stakeholders and with our local partner Sunly – which has a strong track record and is backed by leading European infrastructure investors. The site has good access to renewable energy, strong connectivity, and scalability. We expect time-efficient project development. This combination matches well the demand from large-scale operators,” says Erik Sneve, chairman at Magnora Data Center ASA.
Founded in 2019, Sunly currently has 1 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity either operational or under construction. Its investor roster includes Mirova, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), KLP, Vardar, the European Investment Bank (EIB), mBank, and Rivage Investments.
Reports that Sunly was planning a campus in Estonia first emerged in March. On its website, Sunly identifies the Risti Energy Park as located in Lääne-Nigula Parish on Estonia’s northwest coast. “Risti hybrid park brings Sunly's strategy together in one place. The data center site sits next to what will soon be the largest solar park in the Baltics, where we are also building battery storage capacity and planning a wind park. A large consumer like a data center ties all of this into a single system,” explains Priit Lepasepp, CEO of Sunly.
Originally founded in 2001, Magnora pivoted to focus exclusively on renewable energy investments in 2018, backing numerous wind, solar, and battery projects. The company recently took its data center division public earlier this year. In addition to a live facility in Norway, Magnora is developing additional sites across Norway, Finland, and Italy.