Pension investor deepens bet on energy-hungry data centres in the Nordics and Alberta
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board is tying itself more closely to data centres, backing a roughly $4bn pan‑Nordic platform while also lining up behind a large Alberta project that could draw up to 1,000 megawatts of power.
According to Bloomberg, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) and Equinix Inc. have agreed to buy atNorth Holding AB, a pan‑Nordic data centre operator owned by Partners Group Holding AG, in a deal that values atNorth at about $4bn including debt.
A statement on Friday confirmed an earlier Bloomberg report on the transaction and that Digital Realty Trust Inc. had also been among the bidders for atNorth.
In that earlier report, Equinix and CPPIB were “putting the finishing touches” on the purchase and that a deal could be announced as soon as this week, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The talks were at an advanced stage but could still face delays, and that spokespeople for CPPIB, Equinix and Partners Group declined to comment.
Iceland‑based atNorth runs data centres in Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, and that Partners Group bought the company in 2022 for an undisclosed amount.
atNorth serves hyperscale cloud, artificial intelligence and high‑performance computing customers across the Nordic region and that Partners Group has supported its regional expansion since acquiring the business.
Reuters also noted that Equinix has been expanding to capture rising demand for digital infrastructure and that pension funds have been increasing exposure to data‑centre assets.
Alongside the Nordic acquisition, CPPIB is involved in an early‑stage power and data‑centre partnership in Alberta.
CBC News reported that electricity generator TransAlta Corp. has signed a memorandum of understanding with CPPIB and Brookfield to supply electricity to a planned data centre at TransAlta’s Keephills power plant west of Edmonton, which was converted from coal to natural gas in 2021.
The memorandum sets out a framework for developing the Keephills data centre and includes an initial long‑term power purchase agreement for about 230 megawatts of power, with the potential to increase to 1,000 megawatts.
TransAlta expects to finalize the deal with CPPIB and Brookfield later this year and is withholding further details until then.
CBC reported that CEO John Kousinioris described the arrangement as “a really sound one from a commercial perspective” and that chief financial officer Joel Hunter is set to replace Kousinioris.
CBC described data centres as large facilities that house computing capacity for artificial intelligence and other uses and said they require “massive amounts of energy” to operate and cool equipment.
The Alberta government wants to attract $100bn in data‑centre development by the end of this decade, including interest from companies such as Meta Platforms Inc.
At the same time, the provincial grid operator is allowing up to 1,200 megawatts of large‑load projects to connect until 2028, far below what had been requested, to avoid reliability issues.
Kousinioris said TransAlta factored that limit into its search for data‑centre partners and was “very pleased” to team with CPPIB and Brookfield.
The operator at the centre of the Nordic deal is also expanding its own footprint.
In a press release, atNorth said it plans to build a 300MW data centre in Sollefteå Municipality, Sweden, on a 50‑hectare plot at Hamre Industrial Park in Långsele (Hamre 1), with operations expected in the first half of 2028.
The company said the park is fully zoned and prepared for development, allowing a faster construction schedule as demand for AI‑driven, high‑performance computing infrastructure grows.
The press release said Hamre Industrial Park offers a strategic location, strong grid capacity and access to renewable energy, and that the campus will use atNorth’s modular architecture for data‑intensive workloads and colocation, including built‑to‑suit and large‑scale, tailor‑made space.
atNorth said it will pursue heat‑reuse partnerships so excess heat from the facility can be captured and used locally.
According to the release, this Swedish project follows atNorth’s expansion with two new data‑centre sites in Iceland and plans for another data centre in Stockholm.
The company said it has recently formed colocation partnerships with Nokia, Crusoe and 6G AI Sweden AB and signed a heat‑reuse agreement with Vesforbrænding, described as Denmark’s largest waste‑to‑energy company, to repurpose excess heat from its DEN01 campus.
