Finland Tells Google to Pause Site Work at Two Data Centers Until Environmental Reviews Finish

Two dates this month will show how far Finland's environmental rules can slow Google's largest European build-out. By Oct. 14, Google's Finnish subsidiary must explain in writing whether it will comply with a regulator's request to stop heavy site work at two planned data-center campuses. By Oct. 23 at the latest, that work must stop.

Finland's Licensing and Supervision Agency, known by its Finnish initials LVV, on Oct. 6 asked Tuike Finland Oy, the Google subsidiary developing the projects, to suspend "immediately and no later than 23.10.2026" preparatory work that significantly alters the environment at planned server-center sites in Muhos and Kajaani, in northern Finland. The request runs until the environmental impact assessments for both projects are complete.

The agency based the request on Section 32, subsection 2, of Finland's Environmental Impact Assessment Act. It covers tree removal, stripping of topsoil, excavation, quarrying, crushing, moving of earth, ditching and construction of site roads and storage areas. It does not cover planning, surveying, soil studies or other work with minor effects that can easily be reversed.

"In the agency's view, based on the reports currently available, large-scale preparatory work has already been carried out at the project sites," said Tommi Muilu, head of LVV's environment department, listing tree removal, topsoil stripping, site roads and storage areas, changes to ditches and culverts, and stormwater arrangements. In the agency's assessment, those measures "change the environment and cause effects whose identification and assessment are among the central aims of the EIA procedure," he said.

The intervention does not cancel either project. It is a request, not yet an order, and the agency said its first aim is for the developer to correct the situation voluntarily. If Tuike Finland does not comply, LVV said it would consider administrative enforcement under the EIA Act or other applicable law. The agency had asked Tuike Finland, the municipality of Muhos, the city of Kajaani and their building-control authorities for information on Sept. 18, and said the request draws on what they supplied.

The assessments themselves are still under way. LVV said the environmental impact statements for both projects are expected to be completed during 2026, which suggests the pause could be measured in weeks or months rather than years if the reports raise no new problems.

The sites are part of a much larger commitment. On Sept. 9, Google said it would invest at least 13 billion euros in Finnish digital infrastructure during 2027 and 2028, including data centers and supporting infrastructure in Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala. Hamina is home to Google's existing Finnish campus.

For the company, the question is schedule. Site clearing is among the first steps in a data-center build, and a delay at that stage can push back every later milestone, from building shells to grid connection. For Finland, which has drawn developers with land, cool weather and power supply, the case tests whether its permitting system can keep pace with projects of this size without the order of steps being reversed.

The next markers are Tuike Finland's written reply, due Oct. 14, and whether heavy work at both sites has stopped by Oct. 23. A decision by LVV to open enforcement proceedings, or completion of the two environmental impact statements, would be the next signal on timing.