Two Google data centres Finland « Euro Weekly News

Google has acquired land for two future data centres in Kajaani  and Muhos in Finland.

The four plots with a total area of 1,400 hectares that cost Google €27 million were acquired from Finland’s publicly-owned forestry and water agency, Metsahallitus.

Land sales on this scale are rare in Finland, official sources said, although Metsahallitus’s business activities include exploiting the state assets assigned to it by selling or renting out areas of land and water.

Google has been operating data centres in Finland since 2011, creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs during construction. Its current Finnish data centre is based at a converted paper mill in Hamina where the company has been able to take advantage of existing infrastructure by using seawater as a cooling system.

Google has invested more than €4.5 billion in Finland

Google announced €1 billion expansion plans for the site in May, bringing the company’s total investment in Finland to more than €4.5 billion. Equally interesting from a local point of view, the data centre will provide 80 per cent of the neighbourhood’s heating needs by next year.

“For more than a decade, Finland has been home to our Google data centre in Hamina, and we’re dedicated to supporting the country’s growing digital ambitions,” said Antti Jarvinen, Google’s Finland director.

“Even before any final investment decision is made for developing the sites in Kajaani and Muhos, we are working in close consultation with local and national stakeholders. This is the first step in a long process.”

The Hamina centre employs approximately 400 people full-time at present, and the impact of the future Kajaani and Muhos centres on  employment is expected to be significant.

Kajaani ready for a long-term cooperation with Google

In the meantime, Kajaani’s mayor Jari Tolonen declared that it was “a great pleasure” to welcome Google.

The town is already home to the Large Unified Modern Infrastructure (Lumi), Europe’s most powerful supercomputer, which is owned by the European Commission’s EuroHPC Joint Undertaking.

The Borealis data centre, owned by a French investment firm, is also located in Kajaani, as well as a Finnish government facility.

“Our data centre ecosystem has been growing fast over the past years,” the mayor said, adding that Google’s plans for developing digital infrastructure was very positive for the town, for Kainuu region, and also for northern and eastern Finland.

“We in Kajaani have invested heavily in developing the data centre ecosystem,” he said, “and we are ready for a long-term and diverse cooperation with Google.”