About Northern Sweden

Norrbotten is a vast region of surprising contrasts. It is:

  • Sweden’s largest and northernmost region, much of it lying within the Arctic circle
  • It covers an area larger than all of Portugal or Austria alone
  • It is home to Sweden’s highest mountain and deepest lake
  • It is one of Europe’s largest wilderness areas, with world famous tourist resorts such as the Ice Hotel and Tree Hotel drawing visitors from around the world
  • Norrbotten is also a focus for the European space industry, and home to its most significant rocket and satellite launching facility
  • Its landscape is constantly changing with the seasons, from endless +30C sunshine and the midnight sun in summer to spectacular displays of the Northern Lights and -40C in the winter
  • Norrbotten is rich in mineral resources, with 90% of Europe’s iron ore mined here, including at the world’s deepest underground mine in Kiruna
  • It is one of the few regions of the world powered by 100% renewable electricity, 100% of the time, and electricity is a major export
  • Europe’s largest onshore wind farm, the giant Markybygden project is located here, with over 1,000 wind turbines
  • The region is also rich in hydropower resources, with the Luleå River alone generating nearly 10% of Sweden’s electricity
  • The Luleå Port is Sweden’s busiest dry bulk port, and despite its northerly location, it operates all year round thanks to the ice breaker fleet based there
  • Norrbotten is consistently the region of Sweden that attracts the most investment inflows – a trend that is only accelerating as the world races to decarbonize its economy

Regional Actors

Facebook’s hyper-efficient data centers

Facebook is committed to fighting climate change and has set a science-based target to reduce its greenhouse gas footprint by 75% and reach 100% renewable energy for all of its operations in 2020. Facebook designs, builds, and maintains facilities that are positive contributors to local communities.

They approach sustainability from the ground up—from design and construction to energy sources, water stewardship, and hardware design. Facebook’s data center in Luleå is 80 percent more water efficient than the average data center in the world. This is possible thanks to the cold climate and smart cooling solutions Facebook tried out here in the North of Sweden, and that they hope to implement around the world.

Improving society, environment and industry –
using space data

The Research Institutes of Sweden AB (RISE) has long been at the forefront of research in areas such as AI, big data, cloud computing, data processing, IoT, and data centers. By providing expertise, knowledge and experimental opportunities within these areas to commercial companies, RISE seeks to strengthen their customers’ international competitiveness.

By ensuring the rapid piloting and demonstration of new technologies, RISE has aided the ICT industry to become more efficient both in data center operations and in their use of AI technologies. The latest venture located in Luleå is RISE ICE, focusing on Space data science and engineering. Together with the Space Agency and other partners, RISE ICE is developing the Swedish Space Data Lab utilizing data and knowledge from Space research in commercial industries.

Who is behind Demo North?

Demo North is founded and operated by Invest in Norrbotten. Invest in Norrbotten is the agency established to attract international investors and capital to the Norrbotten region, as well as helping local companies expand by finding the right overseas partners to assist their growth. We support companies planning to establish or expand business in our region, and with our wide network of local, regional and national business contacts, we ensure a smooth and swift investment process for your company. Naturally, all our services are free of charge and conducted with full confidentiality. You can read more about us at www.investinnorrbotten.se

Visit Invest in Norrbotten

Frida Ekeström

Project Manager
frida@investinnorrbotten.se
+46 70 219 38 17

Malin Ekblom

Inward Investment Manager
malin@investinnorrbotten.se
+4670 777 78 49

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