Finland is seeking to strengthen its position in Europe’s fast-growing data center market, as artificial intelligence, cloud services and data security needs drive demand for new digital infrastructure, reported Xinhua.
On Monday, Nordic data center operator atNorth announced an expansion of its FIN02 facility in Espoo.
The project follows TikTok’s recent billion-euro data center investment in Lahti, north of Helsinki, and a comparable project in Kouvola, southeastern Finland, last year.
TikTok has said Finland offers a strong combination of digital infrastructure, clean and reliable energy, robust data governance and skilled labor. Its Finnish projects are part of its European data security initiative, Project Clover, which aims to store and protect European user data within the region.
For Finland, data centers are increasingly viewed not only as commercial investments, but also as strategic digital infrastructure. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo’s government has commissioned a national roadmap, prepared by Veli-Matti Mattila, a former chief executive of telecom operator Elisa, to guide the sector’s growth as part of a broader Data Economy Growth Program. The roadmap explores how the country can attract data center projects with high added value.
The strategy has a broader European context, local media reported. The European Union has been promoting data spaces and stronger data governance to increase trust in data sharing and reduce strategic dependence in the digital economy.
Meanwhile, EU-U.S. data transfers have also remained legally and politically sensitive since the European Court of Justice invalidated the Privacy Shield framework in 2020 over concerns related to U.S. surveillance. Although a new EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework was adopted in 2023, the issue has kept secure European data infrastructure high on the policy agenda.
Against this background, Finland is positioning itself as an attractive alternative to traditional data center hubs such as Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin, highlighting its clean energy supply, secure data handling, reliable telecommunications and a cool climate that reduces cooling needs.
However, the investment boom has triggered debate in Finland over electricity consumption. Risto Siilasmaa, a prominent Finnish technology entrepreneur, has warned against excessive enthusiasm for data center projects, saying international companies are attracted by Finland’s cheap electricity. Kati ter Horst, CEO of stainless steel producer Outokumpu, has also cautioned against reckless electricity consumption.
Orpo has rejected concerns that data centers would endanger Finland’s electricity supply. He told business daily Kauppalehti on Monday that data centers should not be seen as a threat to Finland’s electricity supply.
According to Mattila’s roadmap, Finnish data centers used about 1.6 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, just under 2 percent of national consumption. By 2030, their use is expected to rise to 5 to 6 terawatt-hours, or 3 to 4 percent of total electricity consumption.
Data center operations contributed about 200 million euros to Finland’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, while construction related to the sector generated an economic impact of around 1 billion euros, reported Kauppalehti.
