Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has announced the delivery of Olivia, now ranked as Norway’s most powerful supercomputer and a major milestone in the country’s push toward advanced AI, high performance computing, and digital sovereignty.
Installed at the energy-efficient Lefdal Mine Data Center, Olivia combines cutting-edge performance with Norway’s renewable power, enabling national research institutions to accelerate innovation while reducing environmental impact.
The system supports Norway’s national AI strategy, following the Research Council’s recommendation to invest NOK 3.4 billion over five years to strengthen readiness, expertise, and security in AI and HPC infrastructure.
Built on HPE Cray EX Supercomputing EX4000 architecture, Olivia integrates 504 AMD Turin CPUs, 304 NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips, 5.3 petabytes of HPE Lustre Storage, and HPE Slingshot interconnect. The platform delivers a 1600 percent boost in national compute capacity while using 30 percent less power than the previous national system, Betzy. As of November 2025, Olivia holds the No. 134 position on the global TOP500 list of most powerful supercomputers.
HPE says the system is designed to support Norway’s strategic ambitions across scientific research, digital infrastructure, and AI. According to Kristen Ottestad, Sales Director and Signatory for HPE Norway, Olivia represents a significant advancement, combining HPE expertise with AMD and NVIDIA technologies to deliver scalable performance for AI and scientific workloads.
Housed inside the Lefdal Mine Data Center, the system showcases a highly sustainable design. Powered by renewable energy and operating with naturally efficient cooling, Olivia is engineered to keep carbon emissions low. HPE and local partners also plan to reuse waste heat from the supercomputer to supply warm water for nearby salmon farms, enhancing the environmental benefits.
Olivia is demonstrating real-world value. The SINTEF GoHydro project leveraged the supercomputer’s architecture to accelerate hydropower modelling, achieving a 25 percent gain by utilizing shared NVIDIA GPU memory. Simulation speeds increased by up to 50x for smaller models and up to 200x for larger ones, enabling more accurate operational planning in Norway’s evolving renewable energy market.
According to Helge Stranden, Senior Advisor HPC & Storage at Sigma2, Olivia marks a new chapter for Norway by combining high performance with responsible energy use. The system will be accessible to researchers across the country, supporting work in climate modeling, marine science, health, and language AI.
Sigma2’s deployment of Olivia supercomputer joins a growing list of HPE systems supporting European scientific advancement, including LUMI in Finland, Alps in Switzerland, and Blue Lion in Germany, each designed to accelerate AI and HPC innovation through energy-optimized infrastructure.
Rajani Baburajan
