What does it take to get a hyperscale data center built this late into 2026? A whole army of contract laborers living on a prison barge, apparently.
New reporting by Bloomberg revealed some bizarre details around the 30-megawatt data center being developed in Glomfjord, a small industrial village in Norway. Despite being heralded as a crown jewel of British data center company Nscale, the facility is at least six months behind schedule, with just 6.4 megawatts currently up and running.
There are plenty of reasons for the setbacks. Bloomberg notes that costly and avoidable mistakes account for most of the delays, with major cooling system leaks, labor issues, and a huge electrical fire setting construction far behind schedule.
Labor conditions are especially brutal, with workers complaining to the publication about working extremely long shifts without proper training or health and safety protocols in place. An investigation by the Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority found that Nscale’s personnel records were likewise abysmal, with some paperwork only noting a workers’ first name, Bloomberg noted.
