Google announced on 10 September 2026 that it would invest at least €13 billion in its data centers in Finland over the next two years. The investment includes new facilities in Kajaani, Vaala and Muhos, as well as expansions to the Hamina campus. In its communications, Google estimated that the investment would create approximately 37,000 jobs in Finland during the construction phase. Once operational, the facilities are estimated to support around 7,000 jobs annually. In addition, Google and Fortum signed a 22-year power purchase agreement covering approximately half of the production capacity of the Loviisa nuclear power plant.
Based on this information and a quick assessment, the investment sounds like a lottery win for Finland.
However, many public authorities and experts have criticised Google’s employment estimates as overly optimistic, and the permanent employment impact of the data centers is likely to remain limited. It is worth noting that the new jobs will not primarily be high-skilled positions, but rather fairly conventional roles such as technicians, installers, and security and maintenance personnel.
Furthermore, data centers are so-called black boxes that form part of the global data-transfer network. Their location near local industry does not in itself guarantee significant innovation potential or support the competitiveness of local industry.
Who benefits from this major investment?
It is clear that the main beneficiaries of the investment will be the municipalities concerned, construction companies, energy producers, electricity grid companies and, naturally, Google. Google has put the investment out to international competition and has reached the best possible business outcome from its own perspective.
Who will pay for the investment?
The potential economic disadvantages will primarily affect taxpayers, energy consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises. Energy and transmission costs for households and businesses will rise as a significant share of electricity production is tied up in wholesale-price agreements with large buyers, while transmission lines are built to meet the needs of major customers.
Indirect costs will also arise for taxpayers if Google and similar multinational corporations do not allocate their business profits to Finland and the corporate taxes they pay here remain negligible.
Other energy-intensive businesses may also be forced to give way to these data center investments. Risto Siilasmaa highlighted this important perspective in an article published in Helsingin Sanomat on 17 April 2026, under the headline: “Finland’s AI development is heading in the wrong direction if the country is filled with data centers owned by foreign tech giants.”
The green transition will be delayed if balancing power increasingly has to be generated, for example, with gas turbines at times when greener forms of electricity generation cannot meet demand. Data centers operate 24/7/365, regardless of consumer electricity prices.
Are data center investments harmful to Finland?
Does this mean that data center investments by foreign-owned companies are harmful to the Finnish economy? Naturally not.
However, what is happening now is that small municipalities, in particular, are eager to attract these rapid, large-scale investments in order to create jobs in their local communities. These jobs are not primarily high-productivity or highly skilled positions, but mostly conventional roles, and the employment impact after the construction phase will be limited.
My overall assessment is that the wider society will end up paying the bill for the jobs created in these smaller municipalities. To put it bluntly, consumers and small-business owners will pay a high price for these new jobs.
What should be done in the future?
Finland should introduce a centralised assessment process for large-scale investments that are significant energy consumers at the national level. Limited supplies of clean electricity should be directed towards investments that generate the maximum value for Finland, such as new industrial production and innovation, long-term tax revenues, and significant high-skilled employment.
Large energy consumers should be required to cover the full costs of the energy production and transmission capacity they need. Electricity consumption could potentially be taxed according to its employment and value-added impact.
Multinational corporations should be brought within the Finnish tax system according to the same principles as local companies, taking into account their international revenues attributable to investments in Finland.
Energy-intensive operations should be located in areas where waste heat can be fully utilised, for example in nearby district-heating networks.
More generally, Finland should strive to strengthen its own AI expertise and infrastructure rather than settle for providing foreign tech giants with little more than affordable electricity and land.
