Norway wants to regulate its data center industry in an effort to put a stop to cryptominers. The Norwegian government says it will be the first European country to impose a dedicated legal framework on data center operators, which will require them to register the owners and managers of facilities, as well as the type of digital services they offer.
This is what Digitalization Minister Karianne Tung and Energy Minister Terje Aasland told Norwegian news paper VG. The hope is that this will empower local authorities to make more informed decisions about whether to give new projects the go-ahead. The aim is to encourage the construction of data centers providing services that benefit Norwegian society and its economy, and to discourage cryptomining. “The purpose is to regulate the industry in such a way that we can close the door on the projects we do not want,” Karianne Tung explained.
Lacking overview
"It is very important to get a good overview of which services are offered in these data centres. It is the socially useful data centers that we want. They are important for infrastructure", Aasland added. The two ministers emphasize that the data center industry is an industry Norway greatly desires and needs – but the government sees more control as necessary. "We need to know more about which data centers we have, what they contain and what they do. Today we have no overview", says Tung.
No to crypto
There's one thing in particular the government doesn't want: crypto miners. Norway's cheap power and cool climate make it attractive for energy intensive cryptominers. It is – since it is associated with large greenhouse gas emissions – seen as an example of a type of business the Norwegian government doesn't want.
Tung added: “This is an industry that has not been regulated at all. But it will be possible to supervise and control data centers.” The ministers said they did not know how many cryptomining data centers are operating in Norway, but the overall data center sector in the country has been growing fast in recent years.
