Microsoft Narvik Norway · Narvik, Norway
Last change recorded 2026-10-05 · Last checked 2026-10-04
Latest: $790m project financing from ABN AMRO, DNB, Eksfin, Nordea and SEB, with an uncommitted accordion for a 115 MW expansion · Financing closed · 2026-05-11 · recorded 2026-10-05
Nscale/Aker campus at Kvandal outside Narvik (230 MW first phase, 115 MW expansion option): announced as Stargate Norway with OpenAI in July 2025; in April 2026 OpenAI dropped out and Microsoft took the capacity (30,000 Rubin GPUs). $790m project financing May 2026; Vattenfall PPA for 2027-2031; about 350 workers on site in June 2026 rising toward 1,500; operations from 2027. · source ◐ secondary, confidence medium
Recorded readiness — 4 of 6 applicable milestones have a dated public record
Gate to first power — target 2027-06-30 (announced) · path: Grid supply · each step must finish its lead time before the target
1 of 3 required steps have a public date. Red = recorded date past the rule-based deadline · grey "no public date" = required step without a record · green = on record in time · context steps never colour.
| Step | Must finish by | Others did it | Known date | Status | Basis | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Site secured (context) | 2026-03-28 (15 mo before) | 13 mo before (n=26) | 2025-09-17 | context | Microsoft $6.2bn capacity agreement · ◐ | |
| Grid supply agreed | 2026-09-28 (9 mo before) | 7 mo before (n=11) | 2026-05-26 | on record in time | Vattenfall renewable PPA signed for phase 1 (2027-2031) · ● | |
| Substation and lines energized | 2027-04-28 (2 mo before) | 15 mo after (n=1) | no public date | no public date · would need to be done by 2027-04-28 | No date on record | |
| New generation online (context) | 2027-05-28 (1 mo before) | 12 mo after (n=1) | 2027-01-01 plan | context | Vattenfall renewable PPA covers 2027-2031 for phase 1 · ● | |
| Construction started (context) | 2025-06-28 (24 mo before) | 29 mo before (n=15) | 2026-06-01 | context | About 350 workers on site (TIME) · ◐ | |
| Building ready for IT | 2027-06-28 (0 mo before) | 2 mo after (n=7) | no public date | no public date · would need to be done by 2027-06-28 | No date on record | |
| Full build-out complete (context) | 2028-06-28 (-12 mo before) | — | 2027-12-31 plan | context | Rubin GPU capacity delivered (planned 2027) · ◐ | |
| Financing closed (context) | 2026-06-28 (12 mo before) | 12 mo before (n=2) | 2026-05-11 | context | $790m project financing from ABN AMRO, DNB, Eksfin, Nordea and SEB, with an uncommitted accordion for a 115 MW expansion · ◐ |
Lead-time assumptions
- Site secured 15 months before first power — Land under control and campus announced. Rarely binding; shown for context.
- Permits in hand 0 months before first power — Final air and siting permits. Operators often energize on standard or temporary authorisations and receive the major permit later; flagged only when the permit lands more than 6 months after first power or is missing for an on-site plant.
- Grid supply agreed 9 months before first power — Interconnection or large-load agreement approved. Observed median 7 months before first power; the physical works (substation, lines) run in parallel with construction.
- Substation and lines energized 2 months before first power — Utility delivery point live; final tests before the load is taken.
- New generation online 1 months before first power — Utility plant or on-site plant generating; needed just before energization when the grid cannot carry the load alone.
- Major equipment on site 6 months before first power — Turbines, transformers, switchgear delivered; installation and commissioning take the remaining months.
- Construction started 24 months before first power — Groundbreaking of the building that gives first power. Observed 4-26 months for recent AI campuses; Meta's redesigned campuses took 35-58.
- Building ready for IT 0 months before first power — First building ready for IT. 'Complete' or 'opened' is usually reported after first power; flagged only beyond 3 months.
- Full build-out complete -12 months before first power — All announced buildings operational. Comes after first power by design; context only.
- Water supply secured 12 months before first power — Water rights, municipal agreement or desalination contract in hand. Context only; one of the feasibility items.
- Financing closed 12 months before first power — Project financing, anchor lease or committed capital announced. Context only; not applicable when the owner is a hyperscaler building on its balance sheet.
Dated steps (from the sources; later dates are plans)
Build-out timeline (Epoch AI; dated status notes with IT power; rows after today are estimates)
Recorded fact No public date for substation and lines energized, building ready for it.
Calculated requirement Substation and lines energized must finish by 2027-04-28; no public date is on record for it. Under the current rule set the recorded dates plus their lead times give a first power no earlier than 2027-06-30 (on the target). This is a floor set by the record, not a forecast.
Sources (Epoch AI selection): Nscale announcing more than 30.000 Rubin GPUs · NScale announcing 230 initial MW and possibly an additional 290MW, mentioning 100.000 Nvidia GPUs · Local hydropower facilities will fulfill new demand at 4 to 5 cents per unit for electricity
Epoch AI, 'AI data centers', epoch.ai/data/ai-data-centers (CC BY 4.0); coordinates from GeoNames cities500 (CC BY 4.0) and hand-entered places; overrides in tools/project_overrides.csv with their own sources. Campuses outside the Epoch dataset come from tools/campuses.csv (public reporting, source per row). Data retrieved 2026-10-05. Report a correction to contact@ailoadmap.com (campus id microsoft-narvik-norway; include the row and a source link).