Luleå goes live

On the edge of the Arctic Circle, where the River Lule meets the Gulf of Bothnia, lies a very important building. Our newest data center – in Luleå, Sweden – is now handling live traffic from around the world. 

As our systems come online for the first time, we are proud to say that this is likely to be one of the most efficient and sustainable data centers in the world. All the equipment inside is powered by locally generated hydro-electric energy. 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. In addition to harnessing the power of water, we are using the chilly Nordic air to cool the thousands of servers that store your photos, videos, comments, and likes. Any excess heat that is produced is used to keep our office warm.

Our commitment to energy efficiency is also evident inside Luleå’s giant data halls. Nearly all the technology in the facility, from the servers to the power distribution systems, is based on Open Compute Project designs. This Facebook-founded initiative encourages the development of “vanity-free” hardware designs that are highly efficient and leave out unnecessary bits of metal and plastic. These designs are then shared with the broader community, so anyone can use or improve them.

All this adds-up to a pretty impressive power usage efficiency (PUE) number. In early tests, our Luleå data centre is averaging a PUE in the region of 1.07. As with our other data centres, we will soon be adding a real-time PUE monitor so everyone can see how we are performing on a minute-by-minute basis.

Facebook would also like to recognise another incredible natural resource – the people of Luleå.  Since we first announced our plans to come here, the local community has been amazingly supportive. Our data center staff and construction teams have been given the warmest of welcomes in this (sometimes) chilliest of climates and we are happy to be part of your city. Facebook could not have done this without the partnership with Luleå.

Follow our Luleå Data Center journey