Microsoft aims to build datacenters in Sweden that will be among the most sustainable in the world.

The claim is a hedged ambition: Microsoft would build datacenters in Sweden that are among the most sustainable in the world. TRUE: Microsoft built and opened datacenters (a datacenter region) in Sweden, and documentation or independent reporting shows leading sustainability features, such as running on 100% renewable or carbon-free energy, low-carbon backup fuel, and efficiency or heat-reuse measures, that support calling them among the most sustainable. MOSTLY TRUE: the datacenters were built and operate with substantial documented sustainability features, but one stated element (for example a specific fuel or energy target) was not fully met. MIXED: the datacenters were built, but the evidence on their sustainability standing is weak or contradictory. MOSTLY FALSE: the datacenters were only partly built or are still unopened, or they operate without notable sustainability features. FALSE: positive evidence that the Swedish datacenter plans were abandoned.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Sustainability | Azure global infrastructure experience Microsoft (Azure global infrastructure site) · 21 September 2020 Own record

   “We’ve also built one of our most sustainable cloud regions in Sweden that launched in November 2021. This will enable us to use 100 percent renewable energy for each hour of consumption.”

2. E2 How Microsoft’s new datacenter region in Sweden incorporates the company’s sustainability commitments - Source EMEA Microsoft News Centre (Source EMEA) · 8 October 2024 Own record

   “The region, which includes a presence in Gävle, Sandviken and Staffanstorp, is the first hyperscale cloud region to use the Vattenfall 24/7 solution in a commercial product to deliver 100 percent renewable energy.”

3. E3 Microsoft replaces diesels with battery system at Swedish data center DatacenterDynamics (DCD) · 2 November 2026

   “However, when Microsoft opened the Sweden Central region in late 2021, delivered from facilities in Gävle, Sandviken, and Staffanstorp, backup was provided by diesel, although the company has replaced some regular diesel in Sweden with a partly-renewable fuel”

4. E4 Building for the future: Microsoft's new Swedish datacentres have sustainability firmly in mind - Microsoft News Centre Europe Microsoft News Centre Europe · 29 May 2019 Own record

   “We intend for our datacentres in Sweden to be among the most sustainably designed and operated in the world with the ultimate ambition of achieving zero-carbon operations.”

Independent trade reporting (E3) confirms that Microsoft opened the Sweden Central region in late 2021, served from Gävle, Sandviken and Staffanstorp. Microsoft's own materials (E1, E2) say the region uses or will use 100 percent renewable energy for each hour of consumption, delivered through Vattenfall's 24/7 solution. E3 also reports that backup power at opening came from diesel, with only some of it replaced by a partly-renewable fuel, so the renewable-backup element was not fully met at first. E3 adds that Microsoft has since installed a battery system to replace diesels.