First blueprint for U.S. facilities in Greenland emerges: a new race
A former official from President Donald Trump’s first U.S. administration is planning to build a massive data center project, costing billions of dollars, in a remote area of Greenland.
The announcement comes amid fierce competition among major cloud computing companies to expand their capacities worldwide in order to keep pace with the rapid development of artificial intelligence.
The data center is expected to operate at a capacity of 300 megawatts by mid-2027, before reaching 1.5 gigawatts by the end of 2028 through subsequent expansions.
While this capacity currently exceeds that of any operating data center in the world by several times, there are plans to build multiple centers exceeding 1 gigawatt across various regions globally over the next two years, as the pace of AI infrastructure development accelerates.
Drew Horn, former chief of staff to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and CEO of GreenMet, which provides strategic support for the project, told CNBC that the Greenland data center will cost several billion dollars to complete, and that binding agreements have been signed with investors to finance half of the first phase of development and half of the final phase.
He added that the project aims to establish the data center in the Kangerlussuaq area, a small settlement located at the end of a deep fjord on the southwestern coast of the Arctic island, along with the construction of an airport.
Horn explained that technical partners have been brought in to assist with construction work, but the project has not yet secured land or the necessary approvals from local authorities.
He declined to name the other companies involved in the project, as this information is not public.
Commercial opportunities in Greenland have recently come into sharp focus, with the Arctic island becoming a focal point of intense geopolitical tensions after U.S. President Donald Trump renewed talk of acquiring it.
Mining of critical minerals and freshwater reserves has been promoted as potential opportunities, although skeptics point to the logistical challenges of exploiting them given Greenland’s limited infrastructure.
A multi-billion-dollar data center
The value of data center deals reached a record $61 billion in 2025, amid the accelerating construction of infrastructure required to run highly energy-intensive artificial intelligence applications.
Major technology companies, including Meta, OpenAI, Oracle, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, and Google, are investing heavily in developing facilities worldwide.
Work on the Greenland data center project began a year ago, and Horn told CNBC that technical partners have been secured to assist with construction, operations, and energy supply.
Horn, who also served as a senior adviser to the U.S. Departments of Energy and Intelligence toward the end of Trump’s first term, said that the committed funding, in the form of debt and equity, is contingent on the project reaching key milestones, including obtaining permits from the local government.
Other former Trump administration officials also hold stakes in GreenMet, which states on its website that it helps companies secure public and private financing and strategic partnerships.
George Sorial, who served as executive vice president and chief compliance adviser at the Trump Organization until 2019, and Keith Schiller, Trump’s longtime bodyguard and director of Oval Office operations during the first presidential term, helped found the company in 2021 and remain shareholders.
Sorial told CNBC, “We are not directly involved in GreenMet or Greenland. We are indirect shareholders in GreenMet and have no management role in the company.”
The CEO of GreenMet is working to build relationships with officials in both the Greenlandic and Danish administrations in an effort to advance the project.
Horn said he met on Wednesday with Denmark’s ambassador to the United States, Jesper Møller Sørensen, as part of an “ongoing dialogue” to discuss the data center. CNBC has contacted the Danish embassy in the U.S. for comment.
While officials from all sides have expressed support for the project, “the issue is not so much private as it is diplomatic,” Horn explained, referring to the geopolitical tensions surrounding U.S. efforts to acquire Greenland, a Danish territory with broad autonomy.
Although tensions have eased since Trump backed away from imposing tariffs on several European countries over the issue, questions remain as negotiations continue over potential U.S. military and economic involvement in Greenland.
Horn added: “Our efforts, which are purely private, will only succeed if we obtain the consent of the relevant parties and states.”
Securing energy
Horn told CNBC that “major companies” will take the lead in building and developing the data center, while GreenMet will continue to advise the project, which is seeking government investments from countries including the United States, Greenland, Denmark, and other NATO members.
He added: “We have spent about a year preparing everything, from energy to technical components. We have a Greenlandic partner on the ground, and we are now awaiting approvals from the Greenlandic side.”
Securing energy represents a major challenge for projects of this scale in Greenland. Horn explained that the first phase of the project, targeting 300 megawatts of capacity, relies on the use of specialized vessels to transport liquefied natural gas to the fjord.
The project plans to build a hydroelectric power plant – with 70 percent of the island’s energy coming from such facilities – to supply the second phase, which will see the data center reach a capacity of 1.5 gigawatts. Permits and approvals from the Greenlandic government remain pending for both the barges and the facility.
