Facebook opens Swedish data centre

Social network Facebook Wednesday opened its first data centre outside the US, in Luleaa, a coastal Swedish town near the Arctic Circle. In opening the facility in the arctic north, Facebook joins Google and other tech companies attracted by chilly temperatures that rarely exceed levels that require special cooling capabilities which critics say hurt the environment.

Luleaa's mayor, Karl Petersen, said the centre "puts Sweden and Luleaa on the map".

"When you see the centre, you understand how huge it is," he said about the building, which measures about 30,000 square metres.