Why AI Infrastructure Megawatts Do Not Add Up
Fjord Journal · Published October 25, 2026 · Sources refreshed October 25, 2026
Skien and Cambois show why power allocation, campus plans and operating IT load cannot be added as if they measured the same thing.
The same unit can describe different infrastructure. A power allocation, a planned campus figure and current computing load may all be expressed in megawatts. Adding them can produce a precise-looking number with little economic meaning.
FJI’s frozen first-200-project baseline retains source-checked quantities separately from automated numeric candidates. The live inventory has since expanded to 215 tracked projects. Neither the historical cohort nor the current inventory is presented here as a portfolio total for operating IT load or paid capital expenditure. That is a measurement rule, not a claim that the industry has no operating capacity.
Allocated power at Skien
Google’s February 2024 Skien announcement stated a 240 MW first-phase allocation and a €600 million investment in the data centre and related infrastructure. The allocation does not establish current metered IT load; the investment announcement does not establish cash spent. [Google Norway] [DCD]
Skien municipality documents the first-stage development at Gromstul. A dated opening, energization or customer-acceptance record would provide a different kind of evidence. [Skien municipality]
Two figures at Cambois
Regional investment material describes the QTS Cambois project near Blyth as 720 MW across ten buildings. Separately, fDi Intelligence reported a 1.1 GW full-project figure attributed to a local councillor. The checked sources do not establish that the electrical boundaries are equivalent. [Invest Northumberland] [fDi Intelligence]
The two figures are therefore retained with their sources and excluded from delivered-IT totals. They are not added together, and FJI does not select either as an independently verified operating figure.
QTS says earthworks continue and first-building construction is planned during 2026. fDi’s planning-document reporting places operations for the first pair in 2029 and four buildings by 2030. Those are forward-looking phases, not current productive capacity. [QTS] [fDi Intelligence]
The comparison investors need
A useful capacity comparison must identify the site and phase, the electrical boundary, delivery status, measurement date and any overlap with another figure. A utility allocation should be compared with another allocation of the same scope; accepted IT load needs its own evidence.
The same discipline applies to capital. Google’s €13 billion Finnish program spans digital infrastructure, clean-energy projects and partnerships across Finland. Hamina’s September land purchase is for a potential expansion. Assigning the entire country program to the existing Hamina campus would obscure where capital is intended to go and when it may become productive. [Google] [City of Hamina]
FJI has not verified Hamina’s current operating IT load, site-specific spending, expansion commissioning or allocation of the country program. Those fields remain unknown. The next step is a bounded delivery-evidence pilot that reports only comparable observations and retains unavailable values.
About this analysis
Selected Skien, Cambois and Hamina cases drawn from a frozen historical cohort of 200 projects; the current live inventory tracks 215 projects. This is not a representative estimate of global capacity or financing and does not confer whole-project certification.
Skien project profile · Cambois project profile · Hamina project profile · More FJ Insights
Sources and claim verification · 8 documents
Eight current underlying pages were reviewed on October 25, 2026. They include official company and municipal sources plus independent specialist reporting. The comparison does not certify the three projects or convert allocations, plans or country-level commitments into delivered capacity or site spending.
- Municipality of Skien
Skien identifies Google’s Gromstul land purchase and first-stage construction announcement in February 2024, with subsequent site activity.
- Google Norge via NTB press-release service
Google announces EUR600 million for the Skien data centre and related infrastructure, a 240 MW first-phase allocation, and a 2026 operating target. Allocation is not metered IT load.
- DatacenterDynamics / Dan Swinhoe
DCD reports Skien groundbreaking and distinguishes the 240 MW allocation from the much larger long-term area-wide power figure.
- QTS
QTS identifies its Cambois campus and continuing earthworks in 2026, with first-building construction planned. Its older FAQ schedule is retained as historical wording.
- Invest Northumberland
The account identifies QTS as developer/operator and describes ten buildings with a marketed 720 MW total; it does not certify delivered power or precise IT/facility boundary.
- fDi Intelligence / Alex Irwin-Hunt
fDi reports enabling works from October 2025 and proposed operations in 2029 for the first pair, with four buildings targeted by 2030. Its cited 1.1 GW full-project power figure is not treated as equivalent to the marketed 720 MW.
- City of Hamina
The city confirms deeds signed September 14 for additional land intended for potential Google expansion. Land acquisition does not establish a commissioned extension.
- Google
Google announces EUR13 billion across Finnish digital infrastructure, clean energy and partnerships for 2027–2028, naming multiple communities. This is not a Hamina-only budget.