Published 2026-10-29 · Event 2026-04-21 · The editorial team

Region Gotland directly allocated industrial land in Visby to SunSpark for a data centre

Region Gotland's executive board on 21 April 2026 allocated the property Visby Navaren 2 directly to SunSpark Nordic AB. The company wants to build data centres together with solar parks on Gotland. A land allocation agreement valid for two years is still to be decided by the board. No power capacity is given.

The decision is item 155 in the minutes of Region Gotland's executive board of 21 April 2026, case RS 2026/259. The board decided that the property Gotland Visby Navaren 2 is allocated to SunSpark Nordic AB through a direct land allocation. The regional director was told to draw up a land allocation agreement, valid for two years, for a decision by the board. The decision was taken after a vote, 12 to 1, with two members abstaining. The minutes were signed on 28 April and posted from 29 April to 21 May.

According to the minutes, the request reached Region Gotland on 27 January 2026. SunSpark Nordic AB plans solar parks and leases land for them. The company intends nine separate solar-park projects on Gotland, covering about 450 hectares of forest land. Since 2025 it also develops data centres. Five of the planned solar parks could be co-located with data centres, and the company sees this as a condition for investment decisions on those parks.

The company asked for direct allocation of five properties: Visby Kometen 4, 5, 6 and 7 and Visby Navaren 2. The stated purpose is data centres co-located with solar parks. Each data centre is said to create about 20 to 35 jobs. The administration judged that five of the eight properties to be sold was too much to justify a direct allocation under the equal-treatment principle of the Local Government Act. It proposed one property, Navaren 2. The company can take part in an open competition for the others.

The properties are part of an ongoing development project for industrial land in Visby. At the same meeting, under item 156 (case RS 2026/422), the board decided to announce a land allocation competition with tenders for Kometen 4, 5, 6 and 7, Plåtslagaren 8 and 9 and Hovtången 5. The direct allocation takes Navaren 2 out of that competition. According to the minutes, construction of the area's streets is planned to start in autumn 2026.

According to the officer's report, the area already has a detailed plan. Direct allocations are to be businesslike, and land is to be transferred at a market price. The region expects its income from the development project to be unchanged. The minutes give no area for Navaren 2, no price, no power capacity, no grid connection and no timetable.

The decision was taken in April. DataCenterSweden found it now in the region's meeting archive and has added the project to the register as unconfirmed. Region Gotland reported the decision in a news item on 21 April. The executive board's published agendas from May to 26 October 2026 contain no item on a land allocation agreement with the company.

SunSpark Nordic AB is already in the register with a planned data centre at Söderåkra in Torsås, Kalmar County, where the municipality granted a positive planning decision in March 2026. It is the first data-centre project on Gotland in the register.

Why it matters

It is a documented land decision for a data centre on Gotland, where the register had no project. The region chose to allocate one property directly rather than five, so the rest of the company's request goes through open competition.

What remains unknown

Whether the board has approved a land allocation agreement, the size of Navaren 2, the price, the data centre's power capacity and grid connection, and whether SunSpark takes part in the competition for the other properties are not known.

Sources