TE Stock Pops 9% After Norway Backs Data Center Plans For Idle Battery Factory

• T1 Energy said a 50-megawatt data center could be running in 2027 and could grow from there.
• Giga Arctic was first planned as a battery factory when the company was known as Freyr.
• After buying a U.S. solar factory in late 2024, the company dropped its battery plans in Norway and Finland, booked the European units as discontinued operations, and took a roughly $313 million write-down on the idle plants.

Shares of T1 Energy Inc. (TE) jumped as much as 12% on Thursday after a local committee in northern Norway voted to let the company use part of its Giga Arctic plant as a data center.  

The Norway site was sitting idle, and T1 has been trying to put it to new use. At the time of writing, TE stock pared some gains and traded 9% higher. 

What Happened?

On Thursday, a committee of the Mo i Rana municipal government approved a permit to rezone 161,000 square feet of the campus for industrial use or a data center. The full building covers 926,000 square feet. The rest stays zoned for industry, though officials could change that later if more grid power is granted.

T1 holds a 50-year lease on the site, with options to extend. It said a 50-megawatt data center could be running in 2027 and could grow from there. The company also said it has a place in the local power queue for a total of 396 megawatts. The area has strong local backing and some of Europe’s cheapest electricity, much of it from hydropower, the company noted.

Changing Giga Arctic Plans

Giga Arctic was first planned as a battery factory when the company was known as Freyr. After buying a U.S. solar factory in late 2024, the company dropped its battery plans in Norway and Finland, booked the European units as discontinued operations, and took a roughly $313 million write-down on the idle plants. T1 now focuses on manufacturing solar products in the United States, and the Norway building has remained a leftover European asset.

Thursday’s vote gives T1 a legal path to convert part of the plant. Chairman and CEO Dan Barcelo said T1 is talking with several parties about the Norway site. The company has not announced a sale or partnership.

TE’s Mixed Q2

The rally on Thursday came two weeks after T1 reported second-quarter results. Sales rose to $250.1 million from $132.8 million a year earlier, lifted by higher output at its Dallas solar-module plant. The company still posted a net loss of $44.5 million, or $0.16 a share. Cash, including restricted funds, was $156.4 million at June 30.

In the quarter, T1 still reported a $6.6 million loss from discontinued operations and said it was in discussions with several parties about ways to monetize the Nordic portfolio.

How Did TE Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around TE stock jumped from ‘bearish’ to ‘neutral’ over the past 24 hours, while message volume remained ‘low.’

A Stocktwits user opined that there are several perks to the Giga Arctic site, which make it ideal for a data center.

Another highlighted the demand for data centers and opined that a hyperscaler customer might soon sign a deal with the company.

A third user said that the stock is “still undervalued.”

TE stock has fallen 28% year-to-date. 

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