From Mexico — this afternoon I’m not chasing another chip raise. The wire that stuck is power. Reuters reports Alphabet’s Google will put at least €13 billion ($15.1 billion) into AI infrastructure in Finland over the next two years — its biggest European investment — and lock in a 22-year nuclear purchase deal with Fortum. Ruth Porat’s shorthand, per Reuters: “BYOP, bring your own power”, and “Google’s first nuclear energy deal outside of the United States.”
Per Reuters (Essi Lehto, Sep 9), the build-out covers three new data centres in Finland’s cold north. Alphabet also raised its global investment plan this year to $195–205 billion. The Finland package is planned for 2027–2028; Google says it should add about €3.6 billion to Finland’s GDP during construction and support roughly 7,000 jobs annually once operational. Don’t mix that with the construction headcount — BBC separately cites Google expecting more than 37,000 jobs during construction.
Three new sites, Hamina grows, Loviisa locked in
BBC names the new centres: Kajaani, Muhos, and Vaala, plus an expansion of the existing Hamina site (a former paper mill Google converted in 2009). The same package, per BBC and Reuters, backs energy projects that feed products like Gemini, Search, Maps, and YouTube. On the power side, Google signed a 22-year contract with Finnish utility Fortum for up to 50% of output from the Loviisa nuclear plant — near Hamina.
Why Fortum jumped — and what Google says next
Fortum’s Sep 9 release says the long-term PPA gives the revenue certainty it needs to keep Loviisa running through its licenses to 2050. Without the lifetime-extension programme, Fortum says the plant — about 10% of Finland’s electricity and roughly 580 Fortum employees on site — could not operate beyond 2030. The PPA starts in 2028 at a smaller capacity and reaches 50% of Loviisa capacity in 2030–2049. Reuters notes Fortum shares jumped 15.5% to 4.5-year highs on the news.
Google and Fortum are also exploring new nuclear and renewables together, per Reuters and the Fortum MoU. Finland’s PM Petteri Orpo, quoted by Reuters, played down grid-scare talk: enough electricity, prices under control. Primary write-ups I’m using: Reuters, BBC, Fortum, and Google’s Cloud Press Corner.
Hero image: power pylons at sunset by Matthew Henry on Unsplash (Unsplash License). Cropped, graded, and lightly grained by Tech & AI Pulse. Face-free still — no people, no logos.
