Stargate Norway by Nscale: status and timeline

Stargate Norway

Joint venture between Nscale, OpenAI and Aker ASA for AI data center in Narvik, Norway. 50/50 owned by Nscale and Aker; targets 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs in Phase 1.

PilotStage 3 of 5

Joint venture under construction in Kvandal, Narvik, Norway; targeting 100,000 GPUs by end 2026.

Checked 10 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · First phase 100,000 GPU capacity target

Stargate Norway announced31 Jul 2025Complete.
First phase 100,000 GPU capacity targetTarget 31 Dec 2026Current milestone.
230MW initial capacity deliveredTarget 2027Not yet reached.
Expansion to 520MW total (230 + 290MW)Target 2027Not yet reached.

Upcoming

31 Dec 2026First phase 100,000 GPU capacity targetin 81 days (next)
2027230MW initial capacity delivered
2027Expansion to 520MW total (230 + 290MW)
2027Phase 1 operational and serving OpenAI workloads

Current obstacles

GPU delivery and supply chainSecuring 100,000 NVIDIA GPUs by end 2026 requires long-term contracts with NVIDIA and managing global supply constraints.
Power expansion and agreementsScaling from 230MW to 520MW requires securing additional power agreements with Norwegian utilities and Aker.

Physics limits

Power density limits in data centersLiquid cooling can handle ~50-100 W/cm² on GPU modules; higher density requires exotic cooling (immersion, spray, phase-change) which raises cost and complexity.
Networking topology limitsHyperscale AI clusters are limited by InfiniBand/optical interconnect bandwidth and latency; each 10x growth in GPU count requires proportional network investment and topology redesign.

How it works

3 parts

Site & Power

Kvandal, Narvik with renewable energy

Located in Kvandal just outside Narvik, leveraging Norwegian hydropower and Aker's energy infrastructure for stable, low-cost power for GPU operations.

Design & Build

Nscale designs and builds the facility

Nscale applies its modular, liquid-cooled data center design optimized for AI workloads, while Aker and Nscale own and operate the facility.

OpenAI partnership

Dedicated capacity for OpenAI

OpenAI secures dedicated GPU allocation for training and inference, with Nscale handling infrastructure operations and upgrades.

Spec sheet

Spec	Stargate Norway
Phase 1 capacity	230 MW^R (reported)
Phase 1 GPU target (by end 2026)	100,000 NVIDIA GPUs^R (reported)
Planned expansion	+290 MW^R (reported)
Phase 1 investment	~$1 billion each (Nscale and Aker)^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

About Nscale

The team behind Stargate Norway

Nscale

AI infrastructure, GPU data centers, cloud computing

Nscale is a British AI cloud and data center company headquartered in London with facilities in Norway, UK and US. Provides managed cloud platforms, energy systems, and infrastructure for hyperscale AI customers including Microsoft, Meta, Google and OpenAI.

Raised $2B Series C at $14.6B valuation. $3.36B pre-IPO financing led by Third Point and NVIDIA.
Operates data centers in Narvik (Norway), Loughton (UK) and US with liquid cooling and modular design.
Operating Stargate Norway (targeting 100,000 GPUs by end 2026) and Stargate UK infrastructure partnership with OpenAI.

nscale.com (opens nscale.com)Company profile →

Founded: 20242 yrs
Headquarters: United Kingdom
Status: Private
Valuation: $30Best. privateSep 2026estimate
Raised: $2B1 round
Last round: Pre-IPO convertible financing · $3.4BSep 2026
Works in: ComputingAI factories & supercomputers
Coverage: 2 programs · 3 updateslatest 1 Sep 2026checked 10 Oct
Lead investors: Third PointAker ASA8090 Industries
Customers: OpenAIMicrosoftMetaGoogle
Partners: Aker ASA
Investors: NVIDIA
People: Josh PayneFounder & CEOJustin OsofskyChief Operating Officer

Spec

Stargate Norway

Phase 1 capacity

230 MW^R (reported)

Phase 1 GPU target (by end 2026)

100,000 NVIDIA GPUs^R (reported)

Planned expansion

+290 MW^R (reported)

Phase 1 investment

~$1 billion each (Nscale and Aker)^R (reported)