Finland’s planned and executed data-centre projects now exceed €67 billion ($75 billion), with Alibaba and Applied Digital among the companies unveiling plans since Google announced its biggest European investment in the country, Bloomberg reported on 8 October.
Key points
- The €67 billion tally covers projects being planned as well as those being carried out.
- Google plans to invest at least €13 billion in Finland over 2027 and 2028.
- A Finnish agency has ordered work to stop at two planned Google sites while environmental impact assessments are completed.
Alibaba and Applied Digital join Finnish pipeline
Alibaba Group Holding and Applied Digital have both unveiled data-centre investment plans in Finland in the weeks before 8 October. Their announcements add to a project tally that includes schemes at different stages, from planning to execution.
Developers are drawn to Finland’s cool climate, renewable power and available grid connections, Bloomberg reported. Land and power available for large facilities are in short supply across much of Europe, CNBC reported. Several Finnish projects with potential capacities of hundreds of megawatts have been announced.
Alibaba’s Finnish plans follow a wider expansion of its infrastructure footprint. AI Affairs previously reported the company’s plans for cloud regions in three countries and data-centre expansion in five markets.
Google plans at least €13bn through 2028
Google plans to invest at least €13bn (£11bn; $15bn) in Finland over 2027 and 2028, the BBC reported. The company described the commitment as its largest single investment in Europe. The plan covers new data centres in Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala, as well as further investment in its existing Hamina facility.
The spending also covers supporting investments such as energy projects. Google said the infrastructure would serve demand for Search, Maps and Gemini, its AI assistant. Those services give the company uses for the additional capacity beyond AI workloads alone.
Google forecast that its building programme in 2027 and 2028 would sustain more than 37,000 positions and bring Finland a mean of €3.6bn annually. Both figures are company projections for the construction phase, rather than results from operating data centres.
Finland’s lower temperatures can reduce the electricity needed to cool buildings filled with servers, the BBC reported. That operating advantage sits alongside the availability of power and grid connections cited by developers considering the country.
Fortum signs 22-year Loviisa power agreement
Google entered a 22-year power purchasing agreement with Finland’s Fortum for electricity amounting to as much as half the capacity at the Loviisa nuclear power plant. The agreement gives Google a long-term source of electricity for its expansion, while Fortum said it would help support the plant’s continued operation until 2050.
The agreement addresses a different requirement from the construction budget: a sustained electricity supply for facilities once they are running. Its term extends well beyond Google’s planned 2027 and 2028 investment period.
Muhos and Kajaani work faces 23 October deadline
The Finnish Licensing and Supervision Agency ordered Google subsidiary Tuike Finland on 6 October to suspend building work at Muhos and Kajaani until environmental impact assessments are completed. The order covers activities including tree and topsoil removal, excavation, road building and the movement of soil, CNBC reported.
The agency said work at one site had proceeded without a mandatory environmental impact assessment. Google told CNBC it had fallen short of its own standards and would follow the agency’s guidance. The company said it had acted in good faith under Finland’s Forestry Act and had carried out nature surveys.
The suspension does not cover planning, measurements or soil surveys. Google said its plans for the area include planting trees across 130 hectares at Muhos.
AI Affairs previously reported the agency’s order affecting the two Google sites. Tuike Finland has been asked to explain how it intends to proceed by 14 October, the BBC reported.
Google must stop the affected work no later than 23 October.
