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Google had secured access to Finland’s northern grid, but environmental rules are blocking site work at two facilities in its €13 billion data center expansion.
Google had secured access to Finland’s northern grid, but environmental rules are blocking site work at two facilities in its €13 billion data center expansion.
Finland told Google to halt major site work at two planned data centers after regulators found that substantial land clearing and other site preparation had occurred before the required environmental impact assessments were completed.
For data center operators, Google’s experience shows that securing power and grid capacity does not guarantee that construction can proceed. Google had access to significant grid capacity in northern Finland through the Finnish grid operator Fingrid, but the project encountered another constraint when site preparation crossed into permanent environmental alteration.
“Power was the part Google had already solved. Fingrid said the northern grid had room,” said Stephen Sopko, practice lead for semiconductor and deep tech at HyperFrame Research. “The failure was treating forest clearance as preparatory work when Finnish law treats permanent conversion above 200 hectares as the action regulators are there to judge.”
Related: Google’s Grid-Interactive AI Data Centers: From Backup to Grid Partner
The Finnish Licensing and Supervisory Authority, known as LVV, directed Google ’ s subsidiary Tuike Finland Oy to suspend work that significantly alters the environment at planned sites in Muhos and Kajaani. The agency called for the work to stop immediately and no later than Oct. 23.
The request covers tree removal, topsoil removal, excavation, blasting, crushing, earthmoving, drainage work, and construction of site roads and storage areas. Planning, measurements, soil surveys and other limited or reversible activities can continue.
At Muhos, Tuike reported that about 330 hectares had been felled or prepared. At the Kajaani-Otanmäki site, the reported area was just under 200 hectares.
LVV said environmental impact assessment reports for the two projects are expected to be completed in 2026. The agency said allowing major site work to continue could undermine the assessment process by limiting the ability to identify environmental impacts, examine alternatives and prevent harmful effects.
Grid Capacity Wasn’t the Constraint
LVV’s intervention followed a Sept. 18 request for information from Tuike Finland, the Municipality of Muhos, the City of Kajaani and local building-control authorities. Based on the information it received, the agency determined that the preparatory activities warranted intervention under Finland’s EIA Act.
The issue is the sequencing of the work. An environmental impact assessment is intended to gather information about a project’s environmental effects before that information is used in decision-making, including identifying impacts, considering alternatives and determining measures to prevent or reduce environmental harm.
Related: Google Says AI Growth Is Outrunning Grid Decarbonization
With major site alteration already underway, the assessment has less ability to serve that function, according to Tiina Paloniitty, associate professor of environmental and sustainability law at the University of Helsinki, in an email.
“You can often do surveys and reversible site work ahead of the permit.... What you can’t do is clear 300 hectares and call it anticipation.” – Stephen Sopko, practice lead, HyperFrame Research
Google announced the €13 billion investment in September, including new data centers in Muhos, Kajaani and Vaala and an expansion of its Hamina site.
Google selected the northern Finland sites in part because of the available grid capacity near carbon-free electricity sources. Fingrid has said Muhos, Kajaani and Vaala have significant grid capacity in an area where electricity production exceeds consumption.
For operators planning large data centers, the Finnish case shows that environmental approvals can impose separate sequencing requirements even when a site has the electricity and transmission capacity needed for a large facility.
“This is not just a data center rule. It is the rule for any major project,” Sopko said. “You can often do surveys and reversible site work ahead of the permit. You certainly can in Finland. What you can’t do is clear 300 hectares and call it anticipation.”
Related: The Ripple Effect of Data Center Project Cancellations and Delays
Google Says It Followed Forestry Rules
Google said it acted in good faith under Finland’s Forest Act, conducted nature surveys and took measures to protect environmentally valuable areas.
“We understand the concern caused by the situation. In this case, we did not meet the high standards we set ourselves,” said Sondre Ronander, communications manager for Finland and Norway at Google, in a public statement.
Google said it is advancing landscaping and biodiversity plans, including tree planting across 130 hectares at Muhos.
Paloniitty said compliance with forestry rules does not necessarily satisfy separate environmental impact assessment requirements. The two laws serve different purposes, and complying with one does not remove obligations under the other.
“Compliance with one applicable law does not equal … compliance with other applicable laws,” Paloniitty said.
Based on publicly available information from LVV and Finnish media, Paloniitty said it appears that Google failed to comply with the Finnish EIA Act, even after the authority indicated that the projects required an environmental impact assessment.
“Good faith is not a legally relevant argument here,” she said.
Paloniitty said the environmental review cannot fully serve its intended purpose once substantial site work has already altered the area being assessed. That also limits the ability to evaluate alternatives and environmental impacts before decisions are made, she said.
Google’s plans to plant new trees do not resolve that issue, she said.
“New trees do not replace a full-grown forest,” Paloniitty said.
Intervention Is ‘Highly Unusual’
Paloniitty described LVV’s intervention as “highly unusual.” She said she could not recall a comparable intervention at this scale, although such action is not entirely without precedent.
The intervention does not cancel either data center project. It seeks to stop major site work while the environmental assessment procedures are completed.
The projects can continue through limited activities such as planning, measurements and soil surveys.
Tuike Finland has until Oct. 14 to provide LVV with a written explanation and state whether it will comply. Separately, the agency set Oct. 23 as the latest date by which the suspension of major site work must be in effect.
LVV is initially seeking voluntary compliance. If Tuike does not comply, the agency said it will consider initiating a formal enforcement procedure that could be backed by a conditional fine.
This article was originally published on TechTarget.com.
About the Author
Shane Snider is a veteran journalist with more than 20 years of industry experience. He started his career as a general assignment reporter and has covered government, business, education, technology and much more. He was a reporter for the Triangle Business Journal, The Raleigh News & Observer and most recently a tech reporter for CRN. He was also a top wedding photographer for many years, traveling across the country and around the world. He lives in Raleigh, N.C.
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