Norway’s new supercomputer to power AI research with waste heat for local salmon farms

Tanya Weaver Thu 27 Nov 2025

Collected at: https://eandt.theiet.org/2025/11/27/norways-new-supercomputer-power-ai-research-waste-heat-local-salmon-farms

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has delivered Norway’s ‘most powerful’ supercomputer to accelerate AI research while using waste heat to warm local salmon farms.

Built by HPE for Norway’s national scientific computing division Sigma2, the ‘Olivia’ supercomputer will help support national research and AI development.

Installed at the Lefdal Mine Data Centre on the west coast of Norway, it is built on HPE’s Cray EX4000 system and uses hundreds of powerful AMD Turin CPUs and Nvidia Grace Hopper superchips.

In total, HPE claims the system delivers a 1,600% increase in Norway’s national compute capacity while reducing power consumption by 30% compared to its predecessor, Betzy.

Kristen Ottestad, sales director and signatory for HPE Norway, said: “By integrating HPE’s HPC and AI expertise with AMD CPUs and Nvidia superchips that combine Nvidia CPUs with Nvidia GPUs to deliver exceptional computing power and energy efficiency, the system delivers scalable performance for AI and scientific workloads, supporting Norway’s strategic goals in research, innovation and AI.”

While the system itself is designed to be energy-efficient, the supercomputer’s location also adds to its strong environmental credentials.

The Lefdal Mine Data Centre is in a former olivine mine carved into a mountain beside a fjord. Power for the centre comes from renewable hydropower, and cooling is provided by cold water from the fjord. According to HPE, there are plans to reuse the supercomputer’s waste heat to warm water for local salmon farms.

HPE

Helge Stranden, senior adviser, HPC and storage, Sigma2, said: “Olivia marks a new chapter for Norwegian research. By combining cutting-edge performance with the unique energy-efficiency of the Lefdal Mine Data Center, we’re not only accelerating scientific discovery, we’re doing so responsibly.

“This system empowers researchers across disciplines to tackle global challenges with sustainable supercomputing at their fingertips.”

To date, Olivia has been used by SINTEF Energy Research, a Norwegian research institute, for the GoHydro project, improving simulations for hydropower planning.

According to HPE, energy planning achieved a 25% boost through utilising shared Nvidia GPU memory. Simulations now run hundreds of times faster, enabling quicker and more accurate decision-making for energy planning.

Sigma2 says Olivia will be available to researchers nationwide, regardless of institutional affiliation, ensuring equitable access to AI and compute resources.