Green Mountain and Hima Seafood have launched their joint excess‑heat reuse project in Rjukan, Norway. The initiative represents an innovative industrial collaboration that combines sustainable data center operations with land‑based trout farming. The Norwegian Minister of Digitalisation and Public Governance officiated the opening.
In an industrial area in Rjukan, two cornerstone companies are located just 800 meters apart. One is a data center. The other is the world’s largest land-based aquaculture facility for trout production. Now, Green Mountain and Hima Seafood have entered a cross-sector collaboration that enables excess heat from data center operations to support the fish production next door.
In the project, Hima Seafood will use excess heat from Green Mountain’s data center to warm the water in its aquaculture systems. After use, the cooled water can be returned to Green Mountain and integrated into its cooling processes. This closed‑loop energy system reduces energy consumption and environmental impact for both companies, offering a practical demonstration of circular economy principles in action.
Green Mountain has operated in Rjukan since 2014 and has long explored how excess heat from data center operations could be put to productive use. When Hima Seafood began developing its land-based aquaculture facility in the same industrial area, the opportunity for collaboration naturally emerged.
Construction and installation work have been completed, and the system went operational in autumn 2025. In the current phase, the heat‑reuse system is being tested with a capacity of up to 1.75 MW while the parties conduct a joint feasibility study to build operating experience. Insights from this first phase will guide phase two, which aims to scale the system to 8 MW.
Win‑win solution
'Waste heat is only waste heat if it goes to waste, says Annar Bøhn, CEO of Hima Seafood. 'By utilizing excess heat from Green Mountain, we reduce our energy consumption, minimize our environmental footprint, and strengthen the robustness of our operations. This is a clear win‑win solution.'
'The collaboration between Green Mountain and Hima Seafood demonstrates how data center and aquaculture industries can create tangible circular‑economy benefits, reduce their climate footprint, and drive new value creation in rural regions — with Rjukan as an international showcase', says Torkild Follaug, Sustainability Director at Green Mountain.
The project launch was marked with an event at Hima Seafood’s facility in Rjukan. The Minister of Digitalisation and Public Governance, Karianne Tung, Mayor of Tinn Municipality, Kathrine Haatvedt, and County Mayor of Telemark, Sven Tore Løkslid, attended the event.
After the visit, Minister Tung stated: 'Norway relies on a secure and robust digital infrastructure, and data centers are a critical part of that foundation. That is why the government wants data centers located in Norway, but we also expect the industry to contribute to a greener future. Here in Rjukan, we see a strong collaboration between Green Mountain and Hima Seafood. This is a perfect symbiosis between data centers and new industry, and exactly the kind of partnership we want to see in more data centers.'
