A former official of U.S. President Donald Trump's first administration is planning a multi-billion-dollar data center project in a remote corner of Greenland, as hyperscalers scramble to build out capacity across the globe to keep up with the AI rollout.
The data center is aiming to be operational at 300 megawatts (MW) by mid-2027, before further expansion would see it hit 1.5 gigawatts (GW) by the end of 2028.
While that's currently several times the power capacity of any active data center in the world, there are plans to build multiple 1 GW-plus facilities across the globe over the next two years as the race to develop AI infrastructure continues to gather pace.
The Greenland data center project will cost billions of dollars to complete and has binding commitments with investors to finance half of its initial phase of development and half of the final phase, Drew Horn, a senior aide to Trump's first-term vice president Mike Pence and CEO of GreenMet, a company that's offering strategic support to the project, told CNBC.
The venture is eyeing a buildout in the Kangerlussuaq area, a small settlement at the end of a deep fjord on the southwest coast of the Arctic island, with an airport, he added.
Technical partners have been enlisted to help with the physical buildout, but the project has yet to secure land or approvals from the local authorities, Horn said. He declined to share the names of the other companies involved in the venture because the information isn't public yet.
Commercial opportunities in Greenland have been thrust into the spotlight in recent weeks as the Arctic island has become the center of a geopolitical firestorm after U.S. President Donald Trump doubled down on acquisition talk.
Critical minerals mining and freshwater reserves have been touted as potential prospects, though skeptics point to logistical challenges around tapping into them with Greenland's limited infrastructure.