Powering the future with sustainable data centres
Marguerite
An alternative investment fund manager established in 2010 with offices in Luxembourg and Paris
Michael Dedieu , Managing Partner at Marguerite, in conversation with H?kan Bj?rklund , CEO at Conapto, a portfolio company
What are Conapto's key competitive advantages that make it an attractive investment proposition for infrastructure investors compared to other data centre operators?
The short answer is location. We’re based in Stockholm, and the Nordics are an excellent hotspot for these kinds of investments due to the ability to access true green and fossil-free power and a very stable business climate.
Secondly, the sustainability aspect, as we reuse the heat output of our data centre to provide district heating, which is a great way of making data centres contributors to society, rather than just power consumers.
Thirdly, our ability to carve out new capacity, which we have solid proof of now with our latest developments adding 40 MW of capacity in Stockholm.
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Which emerging technologies (e.g., AI, 5G) will drive the most significant data centre demand in the coming years? How is Conapto positioning itself to capitalise on these trends?
AI and other high-performance computing solutions will fundamentally change how we build and deploy data centre capacity, with more and more loads being liquid-cooled instead of today’s air-cooled standard deployments. At Conapto, we have been preparing for the shift since 2020, and all new data centres and computer rooms since then have been prepared for this change.
Today, we can offer extreme densities in air- and liquid-cooled solutions with over 100 kW per rack. This type of flexibility is rare in the market today.
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Are there specific markets Conapto is targeting for future growth? What factors are driving the geographic expansion strategy?
Currently, we’re fully committed to growing our footprint in Stockholm. We feel that the need for city-close, green data centre capacity for either edge or latency-driven applications will continue to grow.
Stockholm is a great place to offer these solutions due to its sustainable aspects, heat reuse, green energy, connectivity to the rest of the world, and significant power and land availability.
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How is the rise of edge computing impacting Conapto's data centre strategy? Do you see increased demand for smaller, distributed data centres or colocation opportunities?
It will always be a mix of more prominent core data centres and the need for edge capacity.
AI deployments, for example, focus on deploying the more significant core centres. However, companies will need more GPU capacity closer to the edge over time.
This dependency varies depending on the type of application, but it will follow the same development cycles as previous IT technologies. More computing power will be needed closer to the edge.
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As infrastructure investors with a strong emphasis on sustainability, what specific measures is Conapto taking to improve the energy efficiency and environmental footprint of its data centres?
We are doing a lot in this respect and have focused on sustainability since becoming Conapto. The highlights are:
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What are the specific sustainability challenges or opportunities within the infrastructure sector that Conapto could address through its marketing initiatives, fostering greater awareness and engagement among target audiences?
Stockholm has over 3,000 km of district heating network, making it the perfect place for incorporating data centres into society. We see the Not In My BackYard (NIMBY) movement in many areas, both in Europe and the US, but here in Stockholm, we can be a vital part of the community and do good things.
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How are ongoing supply chain disruptions impacting Conapto's data centre construction and development timelines? What mitigation strategies have you implemented?
It has been a challenging time for the entire industry, but we have delivered as planned with close cooperation with our builders and hardware vendors. It’s all about having a close relationship with your partners and the planning needed to deliver as promised. ?
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With the increasing sophistication of cyber-attacks, how is Conapto ensuring the security of its data centres and clients' data?
As a colocation provider, we do not manage customer data. We focus on physical security in and around the data centres. This is definitely one thing that we see more demand for, probably due to the geopolitical tensions.
We have seen this development for some time and were one of Stockholm's first operators to build Swedish Security Class 3-type computer rooms, the highest grade possible.
Since then, this has become increasingly common in customer RFPs and the surrounding perimeter security, with higher fences, CCTV and radar coverage, motion detections and access control systems.
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Are there any specific regulatory trends or policies you see as potential challenges or opportunities for the data centre industry?
A lot is happening at the EU level right now. We have already seen the EU Taxonomy and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) on the table, and right now, we are also waiting for the final new updated Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) to come into play in each country.
All of these will pressure the data centre industry to be better and more transparent with what is consumed, which is an excellent thing for the industry and us in the Nordics. This will surely shine the spotlight on the Nordics and Sweden as one of the best places to deploy data centre capacity if you want it to be green and sustainable over time.
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H?kan Bj?rklund, Chief Executive Officer, Conapto
Hakan has over 15 years of executive management experience working in the IT industry for a variety of leading vendors. Prior to joining Conapto, Hakan has worked with companies like PTC, Dun & Bradstreet, Sungard and most recently, he founded Buzzcloud, an ASW partner in Stockholm.
Currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer at Conapto, a Swedish provider of secure, flexible and sustainable data centre colocation. Hakan is passionate about delivering great customer experience with a focus on developing and executing the go-to-market strategy as well as the ecosystem of partners for the company.
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About Conapto
Conapto?offers scalable, secure and sustainable data center colocation as well as the cloud connectivity needed for companies and managed service providers to produce and deliver digital services in a hybrid IT-environment.
With?Conapto’s?four climate-responsible data centres in Stockholm, Sweden, the company can meet the growing data capacity needs of international technology companies?given the rise of compute loads with?trends like Artificial Intelligence, Edge Computing and?Blockchain.?
For further details and to stay updated with the latest news?from?Conapto, visit?www.conapto.com
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