---
title: "Facebook to build Arctic server farms"
description: "Facebook announced on Thursday plans to locate its next batch of server farms in a town on the edge of the Arctic Circle. The cold has its uses, it seems. By SIPHO HLONGWANE."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Business Maverick"
author: "Sipho Hlongwane"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/siphohlongwane-2/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-10-28-facebook-to-build-arctic-server-farms/"
published: "2011-10-28T12:09:08"
updated: "2013-02-01T20:09:30"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 227
---

# Facebook to build Arctic server farms

> Facebook announced on Thursday plans to locate its next batch of server  farms in a town on the edge of the Arctic Circle. The cold has its uses,  it seems. By SIPHO HLONGWANE.

By Sipho Hlongwane · Published 28 October 2011, 14:09 SAST · Updated 1 February 2013, 22:09 SAST

## Content

The small Swedish hamlet of Luleå, which is near the Arctic Circle, will be home to Facebook’s newest server farms.

“After a rigorous review process of sites across Europe, we concluded that Luleå offered the best package of resources, including a suitable climate for environmental cooling (and) clean power resources,” the company said in a statement.

The location was chosen because of a constant supply of cooling agent at these farms. The town is not only far enough north to be cold most of the year, it sits on the banks of a large river and an almost unending supply of cooling water.

“The Luleå data centre will consist of three server buildings each covering an area of around 28,000m²,” Facebook said, adding that construction would begin immediately. The first building would be open for business within a year, it said, while the entire data centre was expected to be up and running by 2014.

According to a weather expert quoted in The Telegraph, the temperature in Luleaa has never risen above 30°C since 1961, with the annual average temperature being a frigid 2°C. **DM**

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![Image](//www.dailymaverick.co.za/images/legacy_resized_images/319aade255f6fb2b767e6587b75442d1.jpg)

---

Read more:

- Facebook to build server farm on edge of Arctic Circle, in [The Telegraph](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/8850575/Facebook-to-build-server-farm-on-edge-of-Arctic-Circle.html); and
- Facebook to build massive Arctic data centre in Sweden, on [AFP](http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jgIt9Fs3JYv1_NGBwjqitUvISaHw?docId=CNG.72dba3228ef0732695ed2ef438774fff.501).

*Photo: Houses in the northern Swedish village of Luleå. Joakim Westerlund, [Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/jockew/3974351791/).*