Google signs 22-year nuclear power deal in €13bn Finland AI investment

Google has agreed to invest a record €13bn (£11bn; $15bn) in Finland, the company's largest single investment anywhere in Europe. The money will fund three new data centres, in Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala, and expand Google's existing site in Hamina, which the company built by converting a former paper mill in 2009. It also covers clean energy projects and dedicated nature and community funds aimed at local biodiversity, education, research and workforce development. Construction on the new and expanded sites is due to run through 2027 and 2028.

A central piece of the package is energy, not just buildings. Google has signed a 22-year contract with the Finnish utility Fortum to buy up to 50% of the electricity produced by the Loviisa nuclear power plant, which currently generates about 10% of Finland's total electricity. Fortum said the agreement gives it long-term financial certainty and would support an investment programme to extend the plant's operating life and increase its generating capacity.

Finland has become a magnet for data centre operators because of its cool climate, abundant low-carbon electricity and a power grid that is not heavily congested; colder air can cut the energy a facility needs to cool its servers. Google is not alone there this week: TikTok separately announced a $1bn investment of its own in Finland, to build a data centre in Kouvola, citing the country's digital infrastructure, clean energy mix, data governance and technical talent. The wider backdrop is a race among technology companies to lock in power supplies as AI demand drives the build out of more data centres; Alphabet, Google's parent, had already raised its global spending plans for AI computing capacity to as much as $205bn earlier this year, a figure that is separate from, and broader in scope than, the Finland package.

Google says the investment is expected to support more than 37,000 jobs during construction and add €3.6bn a year to Finland's GDP, though both figures are the company's own projections rather than independently verified estimates. Finland's Prime Minister, Petteri Orpo, called the decision "a clear testament to our strengths," added that the value of the data economy "extends far beyond direct investment" by spurring innovation, research and development, and said deepening the relationship with Google would bring lasting benefits for both sides. Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google, said the investment "underscores Google's commitment to grow our presence responsibly, pairing the expansion of our technical infrastructure with new energy capacity, grid enhancements, and energy affordability initiatives." The new capacity is meant to support Google's own products in the region, including its Gemini chatbot as well as Search, Maps and YouTube.

Key facts

Google is investing a record €13bn (£11bn; $15bn) in Finland's AI infrastructure, its largest single investment anywhere in Europe.
Google signed a 22-year contract with Finnish utility Fortum to buy up to 50% of the electricity produced by the Loviisa nuclear power plant, which currently supplies about 10% of Finland's electricity.
The package funds three new data centres, in Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala, and expands Google's existing Hamina site; construction runs through 2027 and 2028.
Google projects the investment will support more than 37,000 construction jobs and add €3.6bn a year to Finland's GDP, according to the company's own figures.
The deal follows TikTok's separate $1bn investment in a new Kouvola data centre and comes as Alphabet has raised its global AI spending plans to as much as $205bn.

Why it matters

This is Google's largest single investment anywhere in Europe, and it ties AI data centre growth directly to a guaranteed nuclear electricity supply rather than treating power as an afterthought. Technology companies are racing to secure power supplies as AI demand drives the build out of ever more data centres, and a 22-year purchase contract is a far firmer commitment than a spot purchase would be. For Finland, the deal also validates its pitch to data centre operators: a cool climate, abundant low-carbon electricity and a power grid with room to spare, the same case TikTok made days earlier when it announced a much smaller, separate investment in Kouvola.

Who it affects

Finland's government and economy: Prime Minister Petteri Orpo welcomed the deal publicly, and Google projects it will support more than 37,000 construction jobs and add €3.6bn a year to GDP. Fortum and the Loviisa plant, which gets a 22-year revenue commitment plus funding to extend the station's life and raise its output. The towns of Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala, where new data centres will be built, and Hamina, where an existing site expands; local communities also see dedicated nature, biodiversity, education, research and workforce funds. Beyond Finland, the deal is a marker for Google's parent, Alphabet, which has already raised its global AI spending plans to as much as $205bn, and it sits alongside TikTok's separate, smaller Kouvola investment as evidence that several tech companies are now competing for the same pool of Finnish power and sites. Users of Google's products, including the Gemini chatbot, Search, Maps and YouTube, are the eventual beneficiaries of the added computing capacity.

How to use it

There is no product here to sign up for. In practical terms, the money funds three new data centres, in Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala, plus an expansion of the existing Hamina site, all built between 2027 and 2028, alongside a 22-year electricity purchase that gives Google priority access to up to half of Loviisa's nuclear output over that period. Once built, the added capacity is meant to support Google's own AI and consumer services, including Gemini, Search, Maps and YouTube, rather than being sold on as infrastructure to outside customers. No price for the electricity itself, and no breakdown of how the €13bn splits across the data centres, the Hamina expansion, the Loviisa contract and the community funds, is disclosed.

How solid is it

The reporting rests on on-record statements rather than anonymous sourcing: Google's own announcement, a named quote from Ruth Porat (president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google), a public statement from Finland's Prime Minister, and a comment from Fortum on the contract itself. That makes the core facts, the €13bn figure, the 22-year term and the up-to-50% share of Loviisa's output, solid. The softer numbers are not independently checked: the jobs figure (more than 37,000) and the GDP figure (€3.6bn a year) are explicitly Google's own projections, not third-party analysis, and no one discloses a price for the electricity or a breakdown of how the €13bn is allocated across the different parts of the package. The $205bn figure for Alphabet's global AI spending is real but describes a separate, worldwide ceiling, not money earmarked for Finland.

Risks and caveats

Two different Loviisa percentages are easy to conflate: the up to 50% is Google's share of the plant's own output, while the about 10% is Loviisa's share of Finland's entire electricity supply, and the source never states what fraction of the national total Google's own purchase represents. The jobs and GDP figures, more than 37,000 jobs and €3.6bn a year, are projections from Google covering its own investment, not independently verified numbers, and it is not stated whether they overlap with or exclude TikTok's separate Kouvola project. Alphabet's global AI spending ceiling, raised to as much as $205bn, predates this deal and is not additional funding earmarked for Finland on top of the €13bn. Finally, none of this exists yet: construction runs through 2027 and 2028, so the jobs, the power purchase and the GDP impact are all still ahead.

“This investment underscores Google's commitment to grow our presence responsibly, pairing the expansion of our technical infrastructure with new energy capacity, grid enhancements, and energy affordability initiatives.”

— Ruth Porat, president and chief investment officer of Alphabet and Google