Two potentially major investments move forward in Finland

The US technology giant is poised to expand its cloud and data centre infrastructure in the country after receiving permission to acquire four parcels of land, covering altogether some 1 400 hectares, in Kajaani and Muhos from Metsähallitus, the special-purpose company managing state-owned forests in Finland.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo characterised the 27-million-euro transaction as “historic” in terms of its scale.

“This transaction creates the foundation for possible future investments and sends a clear message that Finland is an attractive and safe country for investment,” he commented at a press briefing in Helsinki on Thursday, 28 November.

Google opened its first data centre in Finland in Hamina, a town located about 150 kilometres east of Helsinki, in 2011. The initial construction and subsequent expansion projects created thousands of direct and indirect jobs, whereas today the data centre campus provides employment to about 400 people on a full-time basis.

Overall, Google has invested 3.5 billion euros in the campus.

The Finnish Government said in its press release that the technology giant possibly expanding its infrastructure further will have a significant impact – both directly and indirectly – on employment, as well as boost economic activity in a way that supports the local service and real estate sector.

Earlier in November, Green North Energy announced it Meridiam, a French infrastructure investor, has joined its undertaking to build a 280-megawatt green ammonia production plant in Naantali, Southwest Finland.

“There’s a lot of development work to do, but getting a partner like this is a big step forward,” Jussi Ylinen, managing director of Green North Energy, said to Helsingin Sanomat on 19 November.

The company revealed in a press release that the plant is expected to require an initial investment of roughly 600 million euros and estimated to reduce emission reductions by 330 000 tonnes per annum, an amount equalling the emissions of 165 000 passenger cars. Green ammonia has the potential to support the decarbonisation efforts of sectors such as agriculture and maritime transport.

Ylinen added to the Finnish newspaper that the plant can also enable Finland and Europe to reduce ammonia imports from countries such as Russia.

Green North Energy is looking to make the final investment decision next year, hopefully after securing public subsidies from both Finland and the EU. According to Helsingin Sanomat, the undertaking is also contingent on the introduction of a tax rebate that is designed to accelerate large-scale green investments in Finland. Available to companies investing in the country, the rebate is set to amount to 20 per cent of the company's corporate tax contributions, up to a ceiling of 150 million euros.