Finland orders halt to work on two Google data centres

Finnish authorities have ordered a stop to building work at two planned Google data centres, after concerns over the clearing of more than 300 hectares of forest. The sites in Muhos and Kajaani are part of Google’s record €13bn investment in Finland, announced less than a month ago and billed by the company as its biggest single bet in Europe.

The Finnish Supervisory Agency said work at one site went ahead without the required environmental impact assessment. It told the project to suspend measures that would “significantly alter the environment” by 23 October. That includes the kind of early site work that has already happened there: cutting trees, stripping topsoil, building access roads and storage areas, and changing ditches.

Google has said it “fell short of our own high standards in this instance” and will follow the agency’s guidance. Tuike Finland, the company running the data centre projects, has been asked to explain itself and lay out next steps by 14 October. If it does not comply, the agency says enforcement proceedings could follow.

This is not a tiny side dispute. Google’s plans in Finland cover new data centres in Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala, plus work at its existing site in Hamina. The company says the build-out is meant to support demand for Search, Maps and Gemini, and that the construction phase in 2027 and 2028 would support more than 37,000 jobs and add an average of €3.6bn a year to the Finnish economy.

And the timing is awkward. Google only recently signed a 22-year power purchasing agreement with Fortum tied to up to half the capacity of the Loviisa nuclear plant. Finland has been selling itself as a good place for data centres because of its cool weather and low-carbon electricity. This case is a reminder that cheap power and cold air do not cancel out the need to ask what gets cut down first.