Finding True North: Finland Positions Power Infrastructure to Attract Data Centers
Key Highlights
- - Finland's energy infrastructure is among the cleanest in Europe, with 95% of power from CO2-free sources, supporting ESG goals.
- - The country boasts the lowest base electricity prices in the Nordics, making it cost-effective for data center operations.
- - Major companies like Microsoft, Google, and Dayone have invested heavily, creating gigawatts of new capacity.
Kaikkion mahdollista.
This is Finnish for “everything is possible.” Why wouldn't it be when it comes to competing in the global data center and artificial intelligence race? Finland’s state-of-the-art energy and grid infrastructure has propelled the Nordic nation into a leading role for computing load location.
Data center intelligence and research firm DC Byte’s new report indicates that Finland has accelerated its attractiveness for digital infrastructure from symbolically slow connectivity to the second leading annual growth rate in all of Europe.
The country trails only Spain in compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for internet technology load since 2020, according to DC Byte. Finland’s CAGR is more than 70% total from 2020-2025, behind Spain’s 90%+ but ahead of Norway, Italy, Denmark, France and the United Kingdom.
Seeking AI factories and data centers is one thing but having infrastructure in place to power that supercomputing load is another. In that regard, DC Byte reports, Denmark is well positioned with ample power generation and upgraded transmission capacity.
Finland offers relatively cheap power rates compared to other Nordic nations, the report says. High voltage lines and clean energy capacity also attract sustainability-seeking hyperscalers and cloud-based computing firms.
Perhaps Finland’s greatest advantage is the ready access to power it offers data center projects, according to DC Byte. Aside from Northern Norway, Finland’s uniform price zone offers the cheapest base prices in the Nordics. The country also possesses strong energy infrastructure, with power historically transported north-to-south along high voltage lines.
“Fingrid (the country’s grid operator) is largely accommodating of data center projects, often prioritizing grid connections for operators and offering positive usage guarantees,” the DC Byte report reads. “Finland’s power mix is also one of the cleanest in Europe, with 95% drawn from CO2-free sources, providing an easy way for operators and developers to meet ESG targets.”
The United States also is seeking to be globally competitive in growing AI capacity and winning the so-called AI Race. However, last year the American Society of Civil Engineers scored U.S. energy infrastructure at a lowly “D+” and noted a $1 trillion or more backlog in needed transmission and energy delivery upgrades.
Plus, the U.S. carbon-free electricity mix is below 50% of total generation mix, according to the federal Energy Information Administration and other sources.
The American grid constraints are considered so significant that many developers and digital infrastructure firms are working to speed up power projects through behind-the-meter solutions to avoid long interconnection delays.
In Finland, state-owned energy firm Fortum is working directly to market brownfield sites for data center operators. Large-scale firms such as Microsoft, Nscale and Dayone all have committed to projects within the Finnish Market in recent years, creating several gigawatts of capacity in the pipeline.
Google’s Hamina campus (pictured) has been a standard-bearer and selling point for new projects since it was developed in 2009. The LUMI supercomputer in Kajaanim and Novagen’s Voikkaa computing centers also are notable projects for the country, DC Byte pointed out.
Finland’s appeal extends far outside the Nordics.
“For U.S. hyperscalers, its position in Northern Europe and membership of NATO and the EU, provide it with a reputation as a safe and predictable market to do business,” the DC Byte report reads. “Whereas for eastern hyperscalers its location makes it attractive as a bridge between Northern Europe and Russia, with Asia beyond that.”
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About the Author
Rod Walton, EnergyTech Managing Editor
Managing Editor
For EnergyTech editorial inquiries, please contact Managing Editor Rod Walton at [email protected].
Rod Walton has spent 17 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist. He formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.
Walton earned his Bachelors degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. His career stops include the Moore American, Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise, Wagoner Tribune and Tulsa World.
EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids. The C&I sectors together account for close to 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S.
He was named Managing Editor for Microgrid Knowledge and EnergyTech starting July 1, 2023
Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.