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Google announced a €1 billion expansion of its data-center campus in Hamina, Finland, on 20 May 2024. The project was expected to add about 100 full-time jobs, support thousands of construction-related jobs each year during a two-year build, and eventually supply recovered data-center heat to Hamina’s district-heating network. The announcement was in euros; it was not a $1 billion figure. Business Finland reported that the investment would take Google’s total Finnish investment above €4.5 billion.
How much is Google investing in Finland?
The 20 May 2024 announcement set out a further €1 billion investment in the Hamina campus. Business Finland said Google had invested €3.5 billion in the Hamina data center and related infrastructure since 2009; the expansion would bring its total investment in Finland to more than €4.5 billion. The announcement was denominated in euros, so describing it as “$1 billion” without a dated exchange rate would be misleading. Business Finland’s announcement
Where is Google’s Finnish data center?
The campus is in Hamina, in southeastern Finland, on the Gulf of Finland. Google bought the former Summa paper mill and neighboring land in 2009, then opened its first Hamina data center in 2011. The company says it uses seawater from the Gulf for cooling. Google’s Hamina location page lists construction of a seventh data center announced in 2024. Google Data Centers: Hamina
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Google’s location page reports that Finland achieved 98% carbon-free energy in 2023. That is a country-level figure for Google’s energy use, not a claim that every hour of the Hamina campus’s electricity was carbon-free. The same page lists €3.5 billion invested to date, a site-specific figure that reflects its stated reporting context. Google Data Centers: Hamina
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How many jobs was the expansion expected to create?
Permanent roles
At announcement time, the campus employed about 400 people in full-time and contractor roles. Google expected the expansion to add 100 full-time jobs. Yle also reported an expectation of 100 new jobs. These are projected roles, not a verified count of jobs subsequently filled. Business Finland and Yle
Construction-related employment
Business Finland, citing a 2024 Deloitte impact study, estimated that construction over the next two years would support an average of about 1,900 direct jobs, 1,650 indirect jobs and 640 induced jobs per year. These annual averages describe the wider construction-related employment impact during the build, not permanent jobs at Google or a total number of unique people employed over the project. Business Finland
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When was the new data center expected to be ready?
Yle’s report in May 2024 said the expansion could be ready to provide services toward the end of summer 2025 if construction proceeded smoothly. That was a contemporaneous forecast, not confirmation that the facility was completed or entered service on that date. The available announcement and forecast do not establish the project’s eventual completion status. Yle
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Google and city-owned Haminan Energia planned to route excess heat from the data center into Hamina’s district-heating network, serving homes, schools and public-service buildings. Business Finland said the recovered heat was expected to cover about 80% of Hamina’s district-heating needs; Google described it as equivalent to 80% of annual district-heating demand. The two descriptions are projections of the planned system’s contribution, not evidence of a measured operating result. Business Finland and Google’s announcement
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Google said the heat would be supplied free of charge, with a nominal annual administrative fee of €1 plus VAT. The project was expected to begin contributing heat by late 2025, according to the 2024 announcement; that timing was a forecast, not confirmation of delivery. Google’s announcement and Business Finland
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why Hamina matters to Google’s expansion
Hamina’s campus combines a long-established industrial site with access to seawater cooling and a planned local use for some of the heat produced by data-center operations. The 2024 announcement marked another stage in a site that began operating in 2011; it also extended the partnership with the city around district heating. The central practical distinction is between the project’s planned benefits—investment, jobs and heat recovery—and outcomes that can only be confirmed after construction and operation.
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