VivoPower PLC saw its shares climb 3.6% in premarket trading on Monday after announcing it had chosen a preferred long-term tenant for its Mo i Rana AI data center located in northern Norway.
The company said the preferred counterparty is a global AI industry leader selected from a competitive cohort of prospective tenants. The selection was made on the basis of commercial terms, financial strength, credit quality, and an operational fit with a long-duration lease structure. VivoPower and the preferred tenant are in the process of finalizing legal documentation.
VivoPower noted that bilateral discussions have expanded beyond the Mo i Rana installation and now encompass the company's broader pipeline of powered land and data center developments across multiple jurisdictions. The company said it expects to disclose the counterparty's identity and the material commercial terms in the near term, conditioned on the execution of definitive legal agreements.
The Mo i Rana facility is described by the company as a fully operational 41.5MW data center that is powered entirely by renewable hydroelectric energy at a cost below $0.05 per kilowatt-hour. The site also holds an additional 40MW of permitted expansion capacity that may be energized within 18 to 24 months, subject to regulatory approval - a step that would raise the site's total potential capacity to above 80MW.
VivoPower previously said on May 21 that it had shortlisted candidates for the data center lease. The company operates data center and powered land infrastructure across Norway, Finland, and the United Arab Emirates.
Context and outlook
The immediate market response was an uptick in VivoPower's stock in premarket trading following the announcement. The company's next public steps are contingent on completing legal agreements before naming the tenant and outlining the material commercial terms. The possible expansion of Mo i Rana, while permitted, is subject to regulatory approval and an 18 to 24 month potential build-out timetable.
Until the legal documentation is executed and the counterparty publicly identified, key commercial details remain pending.