Google is planning to invest €1 billion into expanding its data center campus in Finland. This investment is aimed at strengthening its artificial intelligence operations in Europe.
Google plans to boost its workforce by 25%, hiring an additional 500 people this year and next, according to a spokesperson’s email on Monday. While the tech giant remains tight-lipped about the impact on data capacity at the site, this data center expansion surely signifies their commitment to growth and innovation.
Why Finland, you ask? Well, the choice of the Nordic countries was logical, given their cool climate, tax benefits, and abundance of renewable energy. In fact, Finland’s wind power capacity has been rapidly increasing. This has led to plummeting prices on windy days. There is still plenty of renewable capacity available in the country.
Data centers like Google’s rely on wind power on long-term contracts. The demand for power in data centers is projected to increase significantly with the rapid growth of AI usage. Hence, Google is justifying its investment to have its Hamina data center in Finland operate with 97% carbon-free energy.
Google intends to reroute the heat generated by its Finnish centre to the district heating network in nearby Hamina. This means that local households, schools, and public service buildings will benefit from the excess heat. That’s not all. Google is also expanding its operations to the Netherlands and Belgium, with new data centers in the works. Positioned on the south coast of the nation, the Hamina facility benefits from renewable power sources, like wind energy.
Google’s investment in Finland is not just about expanding its data center campus; it’s about driving AI innovation forward while embracing renewable energy and benefiting the local community.
