Google Invests $15 Billion on Data Center Buildout in ‘Texas of Europe’

Think of it as a different kind of data center freeze. A massive surge in AI and data center investments mirroring those in the Lone Star State has recently earned Finland the title of the “Texas of Europe.” While Sámi reindeer dishes will never taste like a bone-in ribeye, they do go down well with a Shiner Bock.

On Wednesday, the Nordic country continued its bluebonnet makeover. Google announced it will spend a record $15 billion over the next two years on AI infrastructure in Finland, including buying as much as half the electricity produced by one of the country’s nuclear power plants. 

The Big Chill

For AI hyperscalers, Finland’s boreal forest climate is as well suited to data centers as it is to brown bears, wolverines and wild reindeer. The subarctic country’s colder air acts as a natural alternative to the water- and energy-consuming data centers that require huge amounts of power to keep computer servers from overheating elsewhere. This makes for a starkly different environment from populated areas in the US, which lack the same wintry climate and where fears that data centers are stressing electric grids and water utilities have grown stronger than a shot of Koskenkorva. According to data compiled by investor Will Manidis, 18 US states have active bans or moratoriums on data centers.

Google, for example, is planning to build three data centers in Finland’s north, where winters last as long as seven months with temperatures under 15 degrees Fahrenheit. An existing facility on Finland’s south coast will also receive upgrades. Google’s infrastructure throughout the country will power many of its core services including Gemini, Maps, Search and YouTube. Meanwhile, the Nordic country’s economy is poised to benefit:

• Google said the initiative will contribute $4.2 billion to Finland’s GDP in 2027 and 2028, supporting roughly 37,000 jobs during this initial construction period. 
• Then there’s state-owned energy group Fortum, which signed a 22-year contract with Google to supply power from its Loviisa nuclear power plant. Shares in Fortum rose 15.8% on Wednesday; the plant will stay online for longer, Google said, keeping 10% of Finland’s electricity supply online and prices lower for all grid users.

Bloc Party: AI hyperscalers are increasingly dedicating much of their record capital spending to EU- and UK-based infrastructure. French AI startup Mistral, which counts South Korean chipmaker Samsung Electronics among its shareholders, struck a multibillion-dollar infrastructure partnership with Microsoft earlier this year. Microsoft is also spending $30 billion on British operations through 2028, while Amazon is investing $39 billion through 2035 on cloud and data center infrastructure in Spain. Social media giant TikTok also said earlier this year that it’s investing $1.2 billion to build its second data center in Finland.