Ground was broken on 6 May on a EUR 18 million data centre that will provide infrastructure for open science and house Slovenia's new supercomputer and artificial intelligence factory.

Located in Slovenia's second largest city Maribor, right next to a hydro power plant, the data centre will be operated by the Academic and Research Network of Slovenia (ARNES), a public non-profit that specialises in providing backbone services and internet infrastructure for the public sector.

Once completed, presumably in mid-2026, the data centre will provide key infrastructure for the creation of the Slovenian AI Factory, an EU-sponsored project valued at €150 million.

It was selected for co-funding by the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC) along with AI factories in twelve other EU countries and will be the second EuroHPC supercomputer after Vega, which is likewise located in Maribor.

Project seen as major milestone

Prime Minister Robert Golob noted the project's sustainability component: located in the vicinity of a hydro power station, it will be driven by clean energy, while excess heat will be used to provide district heating to the city.

After Maribor thrived on exploiting the Drava River, which drove its industry in the past, today's event "marks the beginning of a new era when the Drava again drives Maribor's development - this time in knowledge, AI and a better future for our country," he said.

Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation noted the project's huge importance for the economy, especially for high-tech companies, and its sustainability.

Apart from hosting a supercomputer and an AI factory, the data centre will also store research data required by open science, ARNES director Marko Bonač said.