Facebook (FB +0.39%) today announced a new data center that has gone live in Sweden, the company's first data center located outside of the U.S.
"All the equipment inside is powered by locally generated hydro-electric energy," said the company in a post. "Not only is it 100% renewable, but the supply is also so reliable that we have been able to reduce the number of backup generators required at the site by more than 70 percent." The company is also tapping into the cold Nordic air by using it to cool the data center's servers, while excess heat is used to warm its offices.
The data center is on the edge of the Arctic Circle, in Luleå, Sweden, and handles traffic from all over the world. In an online post, Facebook said that the data center is likely to be one of the most energy efficient and sustainable units in the world.
The company said the hardware designs in the new facility are based on Facebook's Open Compute Project, which promotes "vanity-free" hardware designs that minimize unnecessary metal and plastic components and are designed for the highest efficiency.
