Google, a subsidiary of Alphabet, announced an investment of at least €13 billion (approximately $15.1 billion) in AI infrastructure in Finland over the next two years, marking its largest single investment in Europe. The funding is set for 2027 to 2028. The project includes data centers, grid upgrades, clean power, and battery systems to support Gemini, search, maps, and YouTube.

The specific plans involve expanding the existing data center in Hamina in southeastern Finland and constructing at least three new data centers in Kajaani, Vaala, and Muhos. The company has acquired land in all three locations, with the Vaala site covering approximately 900 hectares. Since 2009, Google has operated a seawater-cooled data center in Hamina, converting an old paper mill. Concurrently, it signed a 22-year power purchase agreement with Fortum to buy up to half of the output from the Loviisa nuclear power plant to support the facility's operation until 2050, along with a new nuclear development intention; a 94 MW energy storage system will be optimized by Fortum next to the new data center in Kajaani.

Google estimates that the construction phase will contribute approximately $3.6 billion to Finland's GDP annually, supporting around 7,000 jobs once operational. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo stated that this proves Finland's advantages. Ruth Porat referred to this as Google's largest investment in Europe to date. Alphabet has raised its global capital expenditure for this year to between $195 billion and $205 billion. Finland's low temperatures and low-carbon electricity have also attracted data center plans from Microsoft, ByteDance, and Nebius.

Mechanically, this shifts reasoning and training capacity to Nordic nodes where electricity prices and climate are cheaper. The buyer is Google, which needs to expand Gemini, while the seller is Finland with its land, nuclear power surplus, and grid access. Funding flows from California's capital expenditure into civil construction, long-term nuclear power agreements, and energy storage; beneficiaries include Fortum and the northern construction supply chain, while local industries competing for electricity and small users without locked long-term agreements face pressure. The narrative of European digital sovereignty provides political cover, but the real constraints remain the queuing for transformers and lines.

Source: Public Information