Microsoft doubles its data center in Finland – provides new information on electricity procurement

Microsoft has made a decision to build three new data centers in Espoo, Vihti and Kirkkonummi.

It’s about the company already known data center project from the second stage.

Microsoft announced the construction of three data center campuses in Finland as early as 2022. The first three data centers in the regions have been built since the fall of 2024, and they will be completed next year.

The construction of three new data center buildings will start later this year. With the new investment decision, Microsoft’s data center capacity in Finland will thus double. The decision will hardly be the last.

“We are committed to Finland for a long time and we will certainly invest here in the future,” Microsoft Finland CEO Teemu Vidgrén says.

In total, Microsoft has planned eleven data center buildings in Espoo, Vihti and Kirkkonummi. Last week, the company submitted a construction permit application in Espoo for the third data center related to the project.

Vidgrén emphasizes that investment decisions are primarily driven by the development of demand for cloud and artificial intelligence services.

“We make decisions as demand develops. The sites have room to expand.”

200 megawatts of renewable energy

Microsoft’s expansion decision comes at a time when the electricity consumption of data centers in Finland has aroused fierce opinions within the business community.

For example, the CEO of Outokumpu Kati ter Horst brought out in Kauppalehti concern about what large data center projects mean for the balance of electricity consumption and production.

Microsoft is committed to buying all the electricity required by its data centers with long-term power purchase agreements, which will start new renewable electricity production in Finland.

According to Vidgrén, for the first phase of the project in Finland, the company has signed power purchase agreements for more than 200 megawatts.

“We have now fulfilled the commitment for the first construction phase. We will also fulfill it for the later phases,” says Vidgrén.

Microsoft has not disclosed the electrical output of the data centers it has built, but based on environmental permit applications, it is approximately 50 megawatts per building. The first three buildings would therefore have a total output of 150 megawatts.

Although data centers start renewable production, their consumption is not flexible. Therefore, to complement the production that varies according to the weather, a steady control force is needed.

“The challenges of the energy system must be solved nationally, but there is much more to it than data center operators,” says Vidgrén.

In the same breath, he emphasizes the importance of data centers for Finland’s digital infrastructure.

Among other things, the services of the Finnish public sector and companies run in Microsoft’s data centers. For some, due to regulations, it is essential that data is stored and processed in Finland.

“Data centers solve, for example, the fact that the public sector is able to deliver high-quality services and companies remain competitive. There is no option to miss out on the digitization train,” says Vidgrén.

Construction employs thousands

In 2022, Microsoft characterized its project as one of the largest ICT investments in Finnish history.

Since then, the data center boom has made rounds in Finland, and billion-dollar projects have been reported at an accelerating pace.

The comparison is made difficult by the fact that the American giant has not publicly disclosed the euro amount of its investments. However, the company will open up the employment effect of the project.

Upon completion, each data center will directly employ 50 people, according to Microsoft. On top of that come subcontractors.

Instead, construction brings work to thousands. In the coming summer, a total of 4,500 people will work on the sites of the first phase. According to the company, the three new buildings will add a total of 3,000 construction jobs.

In data center projects, supply chains are long and international, but contracts also end up with domestic subcontractors.

Vidgrén says that currently at Microsoft’s sites, the share of the Finnish workforce is 40 percent.