Once operational, Google said the new infrastructure will support 7,000 jobs annually.

In its largest single investment in Europe to date, Google has promised to pump €13bn into Finland’s digital infrastructure over two years, including supporting data centre build-outs and other strategic infrastructure, while also promising to fund clean energy and nature restoration projects.

During its initial construction phase next year, this investment is expected to support more than 37,000 jobs nationwide in Finland and contribute an annual average of €3.6bn to the country’s GPD, Google said. Around 16,000 of these jobs are estimated to be in construction.

Once operational, Google said the new infrastructure will support 7,000 jobs annually, including on-site facility, technical roles and upstream suppliers of equipment and services.

The technology juggernaut is partnering with Fingrid – Finland’s national grid operator – and Business Finland to identity locations for its new infrastructure. The new data centres can be expected in the north of the country where existing grid infrastructure near carbon-free energy sources will help Google’s electricity consumption.

Google has had a presence of more than 15 years in Finland, which started with the company converting a paper mill in Hamina into a data centre. According to the company, the Hamina data centre is designed to cover 80pc of the annual heating needs for the district.

The existing Hamina data centre – a part of the company’s global network of 43 cloud regions – is used by organisations such as Nokia, Elisa and the city of Hamina and helps power services including Gemini AI, Search, Maps and YouTube.

In addition, the company said it is also extending its power purchase agreement with Finnish energy company Fortum by 22 years to support its Loviisa nuclear power plant, located near Google’s Hamina data centre.

The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding to explore and advance cooperation on new flexibility capacity and new power generation capacity, including working to improve the commercial viability of potential new nuclear reactors at the Loviisa site.

Meanwhile, additional deals with energy companies Valorem and Suomen Hyötytuuli brings Google’s total new-to-the-grid onshore wind capacity in Finland to nearly 630MW. The major investment will also see a 94MW battery system connected to Finland’s grid, located near Google’s site in Kajaani, which is expected to be operational in late 2027.

Google said that it will invest in environmental initiatives across its data centre sites in Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala, including focusing on nature regeneration and safeguarding ecological corridors for local wildlife.

The company is investing €31m over the span of four years across its four sites to support local community initiatives focused on education and economic growth, with €10m specifically earmarked for research and innovation.

The funding is also expected to support AI education programmes delivered in partnership with local vocational colleges and labour organisations. It expects to support more than 4,400 workers to equip themselves with AI skills, and train up to 100 local Finnish students over one year for new data centre careers.

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