French private equity firm Ardian is preparing to invest more than €3bn ($3.41bn) in new data centre capacity in Norway and Denmark.

The investment will be made through Verne, Ardian’s portfolio company, using funding from the firm’s $20bn Fund VI, Bloomberg reported, citing Gonzague Boutry, Ardian’s head of digital infrastructure for Europe.

“We believe AI [artificial intelligence] has enormous opportunities and prospects. That's why we're scaling up Verne, expanding it to become a pan-Nordic or even Northern European data centre platform”, Boutry told the publication.

Verne already has more than 110MW of data centre capacity operational or ready for delivery in Finland, with completion expected by late 2027 or early 2028.

The new investment is intended to increase capacity to 200MW in Norway by 2029 and to 350MW in Denmark.

According to the report, demand linked to AI, cloud computing and streaming services has increased the need for computing power, while the energy consumption required makes data centres costly to operate.

The Nordic region has become a preferred location for data centre operators because of abundant renewable energy, which has helped limit costs, as well as a cold climate that aids natural cooling.

Earlier this month, Ardian announced plans to invest up to €5bn ($5.7bn) in a 500MW digital infrastructure hub near the capital city, Paris, with the first phase of more than 200MW scheduled for delivery by 2030.

Boutry said these projects would help Europe maintain greater oversight of its digital infrastructure and data.

Last month, Ardian joined seven other French companies under the AION banner to seek a European Union AI Gigafactory designation, with France proposed as the host country.

The consortium includes Ardian, Artefact, Bull, Capgemini, EDF, Iliad, Orange and Scaleway.