Google to Invest €13bn in Four Finnish Data Centre Sites Over Two Years
Google will spend €13 billion on data centre infrastructure across four Finnish sites during 2027 and 2028, its largest single investment in Europe, the company announced today.
Locations
The money will be allocated to:
- Hamina (where Google has operated since 2009)
- Kajaani
- Muhos
- Vaala
Energy Commitments
Alongside this investment, Google is entering into:
- A 22-year power purchase agreement with Fortum supporting the life extension of the Loviisa nuclear plant, which currently supplies about 10% of Finland’s electricity.
- 629MW of new-to-grid onshore wind contracted through Valorem and Suomen Hyötytuuli.
- A 94MW battery installation near Kajaani scheduled to begin operation in late 2027.
Context
A hyperscaler is not signing a long-term nuclear offtake agreement simply because it has developed opinions about the energy transition. Rather, as demand grows and grids become strained, bringing one’s own generation has become a necessity rather than a sustainability gesture.
Unanswered Questions
Google has not disclosed how much power the sites will draw or the specific economic figures for the data centres, which would enable evaluating whether the new capacity fully meets the increased demand.
Economic Impact
The economic figures provided are significant:
- €3.6 billion per year added to Finnish GDP during construction.
- Support of more than 37,000 jobs, including approximately 16,000 in construction.
- 7,000 continuing jobs with wages 24% above the Finnish median.
Nuclear Component
The nuclear component is noteworthy as a long-term commitment (22 years) that attaches a technology company to the operating economics of a reactor built in the 1970s. Hyperscalers have recently realized that firm low-carbon power at the required scale is primarily nuclear, and much of it is already spoken for.
Growing Trend
Finland has been attracting significant data centre investments, including a second data centre by TikTok costing €1 billion and capacity expansions by Nebius. The attractions include cold air, cheap and largely low-carbon power, political stability, and district heating networks that utilize waste heat from data centres. Google plans to incorporate heat recovery in all its new European facilities.
Prime Minister Petteri Orpo praised the decision as:
"a clear testament to our strengths."