Microsoft’s data center adventure in Gästrikland is slow. In Valbo there is a rare insect that threatens construction.
Microsoft’s efforts to establish a data center in Gästrikland are met with several issues. After a cluster infection of the corona virus among the construction staff in Sandviken and narrowing wells in Stackbo , there’s an issue at the third establishment, Valbo.
This time it is a small insect. The red-listed beehive is located exactly where Vattenfall has planned to build the new power lines that will supply Microsoft’s data center with electricity.
Species protection is of great importance in permit trials, and this is considered an important species. The nature conservation biologist Magnus Stenmark says in a P4 radio segment that the beehive needs south-sloping sandy slopes and the presence of a special kind of bee to be able to survive. And it is precisely in this environment that the power lines are to be built according to the plan. “It’s an unusual insect. It has previously been red-listed, but it is no longer, and that is because it has proven to be quite widespread in Central Sweden. But here in Gävleborg County, it is highly unusual”, says Magnus Stenmark.
