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Google will invest at least €13 billion ($15.1 billion) in data center infrastructure across four Finnish sites during 2027 and 2028 — the company’s largest single investment in Europe, announced Wednesday by Alphabet President and Chief Investment Officer Ruth Porat.

The four sites are Hamina (where Google has operated since 2009), Kajaani, Muhos, and Vaala. Finland has become one of the densest data center clusters in Europe, with Google now the largest single backer.

The Energy Deal Is the Story

The investment comes with three energy commitments that are collectively unusual in scale and structure:

• Nuclear: A 22-year power purchase agreement with Fortum to support life extension of the Loviisa nuclear plant, which currently supplies roughly 10% of Finland’s total electricity generation.
• Wind: 629MW of new-to-grid onshore wind contracted through Valorem and Suomen Hyötytuuli — adding net capacity rather than buying existing generation.
• Storage: A 94MW battery installation near Kajaani, scheduled to come online in late 2027.

Porat framed the energy commitments as a deliberate pairing of expansion with new capacity: “building on more than 15 years of sustained investment in Finland… pairing the expansion of our technical infrastructure with new energy capacity, grid enhancements, and energy affordability initiatives.”

Elisa, Finland’s largest telecom, will provide connectivity to the new facilities. The operator’s CEO Topi Manner cited low-latency domestic access to AI and cloud services as a national strategic benefit.

Economic Scale

During the 2027-28 construction phase, the investment is projected to contribute an average of €3.6 billion per year to Finland’s GDP and support 37,000 jobs, of which approximately 16,000 are in construction. Once operational, the sites are expected to support 7,000 jobs per year at average wages 24% above Finland’s national median.

Google is also deploying €31 million in community investment across the four host municipalities over four years, with €10 million ring-fenced for research and innovation.

Context

The announcement comes as Nordic markets have emerged as a preferred destination for AI infrastructure buildout. The combination of political stability, established renewable energy supply, cold-climate cooling advantages, and existing undersea cable capacity has driven competing bids from Nebius (€10 billion announced March 2026), Pure DC (€7.5 billion groundbreaking July 2026), and now Google.

Finland’s position — Nordic geography with EU jurisdiction and NATO membership since 2023 — makes it one of the few markets that satisfies both US and European sovereign AI infrastructure requirements simultaneously.

The €13 billion figure is a floor. Google said “at least” in its official press release, with expansions possible if power agreements and permitting allow.