IT companies that operates data centers could in the future have a reduced electricity tax by 245 million annually, based on existing facilities. It is now what the government appointed investigators are proposing.
The result of an investigation, initiated by the Swedish Government, may result in an electricity tax reduction for IT companies with data centers. For businesses in the industry this would result in reduced electricity costs of up to SEK 245 million per year. For Open District Heating customers, today recovering heat from data center, a reduction of electricity tax instead expects to turn to revenue when income of heat recovery corresponding to the data center’s operating costs for electricity.
The committee’s explanatory memorandum describes a reduced electricity tax also important to attract international IT companies to Sweden. In recent years, several major IT companies have chosen the Nordic region as a location for their data centers. Denmark and Finland, where several major players have already chosen to set up its data center, have already carried out similar reductions in electricity tax.
The proposal would mean that the IT industry pay the same electricity tax as the traditional industry. The proposed reduction will not only apply to those really large data centers, the corresponding reduction shall be made for all data centers with an output of 0.5 megawatts. For Open District Heating potential customers, this is just an additional argument to locate their data centers in Stockholm.