11. April 2025
(CONNECT) The Flexbase Group, an IT consultancy firm and service provider based in Laufenburg in the Swiss canton of Aargau, has secured a construction permit for the FlexBase Technology Center Laufenburg. In future, the technology center will house the world’s largest battery storage facility in addition to a high-performance data center for Artificial Intelligence (AI). As detailed in a press release, the ERNE Gruppe, which is headquartered in Laufenburg, will be responsible for managing the build. Work is expected to get underway in the next few weeks, with the TZL set to commence operations in the summer of 2028.
Covering an area of 20,000 square meters, the TZL will be located adjacent to the “Star of Laufenburg” substation. A redox flow battery storage system with a total capacity of more than 1.6 gigawatt hours and an output of over 800 megawatts is designed to advance the energy transition in Switzerland and secure the long-term energy supply.
An AI data center will also be added to the technology center, which will feature the highest security standards and use water cooling. In future, the Laufenburg old town will be connected to a district heating system based on the existing data centers in the FlexBase operations building, which it is hoped will lead to savings of 75,000 tons of CO2 over the next 30 years.
As general contractor, the ERNE Group will be responsible for build management and overseeing the entire construction project. Work will be undertaken by a range of ERNE companies. “I am proud that the ERNE Group has been entrusted to oversee this project of the century – it symbolizes our contribution to the economic development and the attractiveness of the location in the region”, as ERNE CEO Giuseppe Santagada comments in the press release. ce/nta
