Bitzero’s 110 MW Norway AI Data Center Deal Highlights the Value of Power Access

Power access is becoming the scarce asset in AI

For AI data centers, the hard part is increasingly getting enough electricity to the site. Chips and software matter, but they can’t make a delayed transformer arrive sooner or win over a skeptical planning board. That physical bottleneck is creating an opening for Bitcoin miners with existing grid connections and operating sites. The scale of the demand is striking. Google, Microsoft and Amazon are competing for power with cities and manufacturers, while some data center projects face four- to five-year waits for high-voltage equipment. Goldman Sachs estimates global data center power use could rise by as much as 165% by 2030. The figure points to a major constraint, though it doesn’t tell us how quickly utilities, regulators or local communities will respond. Bitzero is pitching its Norwegian infrastructure as a way around some of those delays. On May 5, the company, listed on Nasdaq as [AIBZ](https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/AIBZ/), signed a [binding letter of intent](https://bitzero.com/bitzero-and-oneqode-sign-binding-letter-for-110mw-15-year-lease-for-ai-deployment-at-norway-site/) with Singapore-based cloud and network infrastructure provider OneQode. The proposed 15-year lease covers 110 megawatts at Bitzero’s Norway site and is expected to produce about $2.6 billion in contracted revenue over the agreement’s term. That’s a meaningful commitment, but it isn’t a completed lease. The definitive agreement remains subject to due diligence and other conditions. The distinction matters: the project’s economics depend on turning a signed letter into a financed, built and operating data center.

The case for existing infrastructure

The broader argument is that power-connected sites may be more valuable than greenfield plans. A project can have land, capital and political support and still stall. The article points to an $11 billion Google proposal in Indiana that faced a unanimous 7–0 rejection from a local planning commission amid residents’ concerns over noise, vibration and electricity use. Data centers increasingly face the kind of local scrutiny associated with energy-intensive industrial facilities. The article also says new operators in Norway may initially be limited to 5 megawatts, while lead times for equipment such as transformers and breakers can run four to five years. Its conclusion is that developers seeking scale may need to acquire or partner for existing connections. That is a persuasive description of the bottleneck, though the exact limits and timelines will vary by location and project. Bitzero says it has built a foothold in Scandinavia by focusing on power infrastructure. It reports an all-in Bitcoin mining cost of about $50,000 per coin, compared with an industry average near $100,000, and electricity costs of 4.3 cents per kilowatt-hour. The company says it operates as a licensed 132-kilovolt grid operator in Norway and connects directly to hydroelectric plants, avoiding some utility fees and intermediaries. The article compares its power cost with 8 to 12 cents per kilowatt-hour for many large data center operators in the United States and Europe. These are company-specific claims, and the fragment doesn’t provide the underlying cost calculations. Still, the strategic point is clear: an operator that controls power access and substations may have a head start over a developer waiting for grid upgrades. Bitzero describes a wider portfolio with more than one gigawatt of potential capacity. The article lists a site with 520 megawatts of potential and a 400-kilovolt connection, described as fully renewable, as well as a 225,000-square-foot hardened facility intended for sensitive computing and defense-related workloads. It also cites potential capacity in Finland and North Dakota. Those figures describe potential, not necessarily powered, permitted or contracted capacity. Operating costs are another part of the pitch. Bitzero says its 40-megawatt Norway site runs with four to six employees, compared with 20 to 30 at similar-sized facilities, using software to monitor and troubleshoot mining equipment. The company says its current mining business generates roughly $1 million in monthly EBITDA. If accurate, low power and staffing costs could support cash flow while the company pursues AI tenants; they don’t by themselves establish what returns the proposed data center will earn.

Mining can bridge the move to AI hosting

The same substations and high-voltage connections used for Bitcoin mining can also support AI servers, although the workloads and facility designs aren’t identical. Bitzero’s model is to keep mining when it pays better and shift capacity to AI hosting when a customer contract offers stronger returns. Mining also gives the company a source of revenue while it develops the AI business and keeps the site’s power infrastructure in use. That offers a practical bridge, but it leaves Bitzero exposed to Bitcoin economics until the hosting project is operating. The core proposition is straightforward: electricity access is the asset, mining provides current cash flow, and AI hosting could offer longer-term contracted revenue. The OneQode proposal gives that thesis a concrete test. The [letter of intent](https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/296028/Bitzero-and-OneQode-Sign-Binding-Letter-for-110MW-15Year-Lease-for-AI-Deployment-at-Norway-site) covers the initial 110 megawatts at Bitzero’s Namsskogan site. OneQode plans a phased GPU deployment, with initial commissioning targeted for the first half of 2027. Bitzero says the existing grid connection, substations and site could help it move faster than the three-to-five-year timelines facing some other hyperscale projects. The proposed lease calls for about $2.6 billion in lifetime revenue, excluding annual 3% escalators and pass-through energy costs. Bitzero expects an 85% site net operating income margin, or roughly $151 million in annual NOI at full capacity, and says the tenant would pay the energy bill. Those are projections tied to full operation, not current earnings. CEO Mohammed Bakhashwain described the proposed deal as a “defining milestone,” saying a lease with OneQode “would represent exactly the type of large-scale, high-performance customer demand we wanted to support with the site,” according to [Data Center Dynamics](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/oneqode-signs-15-year-110mw-lease-at-bitzero-data-center-in-norway/). A definitive lease was expected within 60 to 90 days of the announcement, subject to due diligence, regulatory approvals, agreement on data-hall design and investment-grade credit support. Bitzero has described the full buildout as a roughly $1.1 billion project it plans to finance with debt, and said it was in late-stage talks with banks and financial institutions. The company has also cited engineering and supply-chain partners specializing in direct-to-chip cooling, UPS systems and HVAC. Until the AI facility is commissioned, mining is expected to continue at the site. The article says full delivery could come as early as the third quarter of 2027.

A large opportunity with execution risk

Investor Kevin O’Leary, known as “Mr. Wonderful” on *Shark Tank*, is described as a strategic investor in Bitzero. The fragment attributes this comment to him: “If you're going to own Bitcoin, why not own the picks and shovels that make it happen? That's power, that's energy, that's data centers. Bitzero checks all those boxes.” It also says he calls the company a “picks-and-shovels play for both Bitcoin and AI.” His backing may draw attention to the thesis, but it doesn’t settle the questions around financing, construction or customer delivery. The investment argument rests on four claims: the OneQode letter covers a proposed 15-year, 110-megawatt lease; Bitzero has more than one gigawatt of additional potential capacity across Finland and North Dakota; its existing infrastructure could take years for competitors to replicate; and Bitcoin mining can generate cash while the data center project advances. That case may be attractive, but the letter of intent is only the first milestone. Investors still need to watch for a definitive lease, financing, approvals, construction progress and commissioning. The headline revenue figure is large. The harder question is whether Bitzero can convert its power assets and proposed contract into a functioning AI facility on schedule.

AI capacity could change Bitzero’s valuation story

The central question for Bitzero Holdings (NASDAQ: AIBZ) is whether investors will value it as a power and data center operator, rather than mainly as a Bitcoin miner. That shift could matter: the fragment’s comparison suggests that, in the current AI hosting market, each 100MW of contracted GPU ready capacity corresponds to roughly $2 billion to $3 billion in enterprise value. That’s a rough market comparison, not a guaranteed valuation formula. Applied Digital (Nasdaq: APLD) provides the example cited here. It contracted 250MW with CoreWeave in a deal valued at roughly $7 billion over 15 years, then expanded the relationship to 400MW and about $11 billion in total contracted revenue. The fragment argues that the expansion prompted investors to reassess the company’s equity story. Bitzero has contracted 110MW at its Norway site. Applying the same rough capacity comparison implies $2.2 billion to $3.3 billion in enterprise value for that site alone, before considering its proposed 1GW Finland campus and 300MW North Dakota facility. Those projects are potential growth, however; the fragment gives no evidence that they are contracted or built. There’s another hurdle: the market often discounts companies until their first facility is complete and delivering capacity. The fragment puts that discount at roughly 30% and projects Bitzero’s first facility for Q3 2027. Whether the discount narrows then will depend on execution and operating results. For comparison, it cites Iris Energy (IREN) at a market capitalization above $21.5 billion. Similar infrastructure ambitions don’t make the companies directly comparable, and market caps aren’t the same as enterprise values. Bitzero’s case rests on a broader point: AI computing needs electricity, land and data center capacity, alongside software, analytics and cybersecurity. CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: CRWD), Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PLTR) and Snowflake Inc. (NYSE: SNOW) are examples of companies exposed to demand for AI related software and services. The infrastructure thesis is distinct: as AI workloads grow, access to powered facilities may become a constraint. The fragment says Bitzero has more than 1GW of AI ready, low cost, clean power and a signed, binding letter for an AI lease. The terms and conditions of that letter aren’t provided here, so its practical value is hard to assess. That’s the potentially significant part of the story—and also where the promotional case needs scrutiny. A signed tenant arrangement and available power can strengthen an infrastructure company’s prospects, but they don’t establish that future campuses will be financed, completed or leased on schedule. For investors, the gap between announced capacity and operating capacity is the key risk to track. The fragment also makes a wider energy market claim: rising data center demand is driving a major bull run in natural gas and power stocks, and investors are positioning for the energy needs of AI. It offers no supporting figures for that claim. Its pitch is that companies able to supply power and grid connections may benefit as the AI buildout expands. Oilprice Intelligence describes its service as providing analysis from veteran oilmen and experts, and invites readers to get this information for free. The accompanying disclosure says neither the author nor Oilprice.com was paid to publish the communication about Bitzero. It also states that Oilprice.com’s owner holds shares or stock options in Bitzero, may trade them at any time, and has an incentive tied to the stock’s performance. That conflict is material context for the bullish claims above. 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