Social media giant Facebook on Thursday announced that it would open a new data centre in Denmark's third largest city, Odense.
The data centre is expected to bring in 150 permanent jobs, according to Niall McEntegart, Facebook's director of data, who made the revelation at a joint conference with Peter Rahaek Juel, the mayor of Odense. He stated that Odense is a great city to live and a great site for the data centre.
McEntegart added that Facebook's mission is to connect the world, and its data centre and other infrastructure makes it possible. According to Reuters, Facebook's Odense facility will help the social media giant to handle large contents including videos and photos.
The Odense centre would be Facebook's third data centre outside of the US. It expected to be powered entirely by renewable energy. Facebook's Odense plant could become one the most advanced as well energy efficient data centres in the world.
The Danish Foreign Ministry stated that Facebook announcement comes after almost three years of preparation. Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen said the country has managed to attract large foreign direct investments.
Facebook's announcement comes closely after Apple announced that it is building the world's largest data centre in Viborg, according to the Local. Apple has also made a commitment to invest in an expansive biogas research project at Aarhus University.
McEntegart did not mention any specific figures. However, he noted that Facebook's investment would amount to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Facebook's new data centre would be situated at the birthplace of the fairy tale writer Hans Christian Andersen.