A new wave of AI-focused cloud providers, known as neoclouds, are building massive data center capacity. Unlike traditional hyperscalers that made early climate pledges, some neoclouds like Nscale say they will achieve sustainability goals before publishing them. Many neoclouds are locating in the Nordics, where over 90 percent of power comes from renewable sources, offering both environmental and economic benefits. Nebius, a neocloud spun out of Yandex, already publishes sustainability reports and operates a data center in Finland that reused over 50 GWh of heat in 2024, covering 72 percent of a local district's winter heating demand and lowering electricity bills by 10 percent. However, the article notes that scaling these practices globally is difficult, especially in the US where access to clean power is more limited. The piece raises the question of whether these newcomers can maintain sustainable operations as they grow their footprints by gigawatts.
