VivoPower has started phase one construction at its 42MW Mo i Rana data center in northern Norway. The works cover demolition of existing structures, enabling works, and erection of the main building superstructure. Local Mo i Rana contractors will deliver the package.

The site has a history. Bitfury built it as a cryptocurrency mining facility in 2018. VivoPower acquired it from Cowa in April. The conversion to an AI data center includes a plan to capture waste heat from the cooling systems and reuse it. VivoPower is working with a local district heating provider and European specialist firms to evaluate uses, including district heating supply and heat-intensive industries.

The company has also picked a preferred AI tenant. It described the tenant only as "a global AI industry leader" and did not disclose the name.

What does the construction phase include?

Phase one is civil and structural work. Local firms Øijord & Aanes, IMTAS and TH Blikk will carry it out. They will finish before the mechanical and electrical fit-out, for which VivoPower has already run a tender review process.

Chief real estate officer Shane Whellan's statement set out the logic. VivoPower said in the release: "We have deliberately engaged with the local construction supply chain, and we are delighted to be working with Mo i Rana firms such as Øijord & Aanes, IMTAS and TH Blikk."

The company did not name a completion date for the works. It said it remains committed to a ready-for-service (RFS) date "as expeditiously as possible but without compromising quality and safety given the long-duration nature of the infrastructure asset being built." Whelan attributed that phrasing to the asset's long service life.

Note: the quote in the source release is attributed to Shane Whelan, chief real estate officer, VivoPower. The spelling of his surname follows the company statement.

What does the new Singapore platform change?

Alongside the groundbreaking, VivoPower announced a separate AI infrastructure company. It will manage the non-Nordic AI data center portfolio and pipeline. Headquarters: Singapore. Funding: a targeted pre-IPO institutional and sovereign investment round. Then a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and a secondary listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

The portfolio exceeds 2.2GW of assets and development opportunities, located primarily in the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. It includes:

• ready-to-build assets
• secured powered-land positions
• MoU-stage sites
• prospective sites

Executive chairman and CEO Kevin Chin said: "The Board has approved the establishment of a separately listed Platform to hold and independently capitalize the non-Nordic AI data center portfolio which our team has assembled through long-standing sovereign and government relationships across the GCC and ASEAN regions."

Chin said the structure matches the assets with sovereign and institutional capital and "may unlock incremental value for VivoPower shareholders." VivoPower retains de facto control of the platform and preserves shareholder exposure to the non-Nordic upside, without funding the associated construction capital expenditure itself.

Company background

VivoPower was founded in 2014 and listed on Nasdaq in 2016. It operates across the UK, Australia, North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Its business spans electric mobility, renewable power applications, and digital asset infrastructure, with a growing focus on AI computing.

What does this change for Nordic capacity? For now, an old mining site moves toward AI service, heat reuse included, on an undisclosed timeline. The tenant name and the RFS date remain the open questions.