Finland's Licensing and Supervision Agency has issued an order to Tuike Finland Oy, representing the tech giant Google, to immediately halt all preparation and construction works that significantly alter the surrounding environment at two planned data centre sites in Muhos and Kajaani. The decision was taken because work began without completing the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, using satellite imagery, discovered that more than 300 hectares of forest had already been cleared in the Muhos municipality (incidentally, in Latvia, 333 hectares of forest were also cleared in territories under the supervision of the Nature Conservation Agency, including in the bogs and forests around Ķemeri; this occurred within the framework of the LIFE Hydroplan project), the topsoil had been removed, access roads had been built, and the drainage system had been altered. Where there was once forest, there is now only a desert of sand, the organisation emphasises.
Google representative S. Ronander admitted the error, stating that the company had failed to ensure adherence to its high standards on this occasion. Although Google claims it acted in good faith and in accordance with the Finnish Forest Act, the authorities point out that environmental impact procedures are governed by other legislation. As compensation, the company plans to plant new forest on an area of 130 hectares.
The data centre projects are part of Google s ambitious €13 billion investment plan in digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence development in Finland, which was announced in September 2026 and represents the company's largest investment in Europe to date.
Works must be fully halted by 23 October 2026, and by 14 October, the company must provide a written explanation and a plan for future action; otherwise, administrative measures will be initiated, which may include fines.
Potential consequences – project delays and financial losses
This incident has wider implications for the business environment, as well as for Finnish internal politics and ecology. Finland's Minister of the Environment and Climate, Sari Multala, has already confirmed that the implementation of the project will be delayed due to the lack of an environmental impact assessment. While a full EIA is carried out, the downtime for construction machinery will generate additional costs.
The Nordic countries have long been a 'magnet' for data centres, thanks to their cool climate and green energy. However, the artificial intelligence 'boom' requires vast energy resources. Finnish opposition parties have already demanded the introduction of a stricter national permitting system for data centres to prevent potential electricity shortages and price hikes for local residents. Although Google has signed a 22-year contract to purchase power from the Loviisa nuclear power plant, public and political scepticism is growing.
Technology companies, including Google, often position themselves as climate-neutral and environmentally friendly brands. Such a flagrant breach of local laws and the clearing of hundreds of hectares of forest before receiving permits suggests a market that is 'overheating' and a desire to rush as much as possible, sacrificing principles of sustainability. This may prompt the public and regulators to scrutinise the real impact of AI infrastructure on nature much more strictly.
A precedent for other municipalities and companies
As experts point out, large companies often take advantage of the lack of capacity and experience in smaller Finnish municipalities to accelerate processes. The firm step taken by the Finnish Licensing and Supervision Agency serves as a serious signal that Finnish laws apply equally to everyone and that even foreign investments amounting to billions do not grant the right to bypass environmental protection procedures.
How do data centres affect the Finnish electricity market and prices?
The 'boom' in artificial intelligence and so-called cloud computing has created a situation where data centres are no longer just ordinary consumers of electricity – they are becoming systemic players capable of reshaping a country's energy grid.
Google s planned data centres in Muhos and Kajaani, along with infrastructure already existing or under construction elsewhere in Finland, require constant, uninterrupted power. Experts estimate that the data centre sector could consume a significant portion of the electricity generated in Finland over the next decade. Data centres consume energy in 'base load' mode – evenly 24 hours a day, regardless of whether the sun is shining or the wind is blowing. At times when renewable energy production – wind and solar – drops, this huge, inflexible consumption can cause rapid spikes in electricity prices on the exchange for local residents and smaller businesses.
To ensure stability, Google has signed a long-term power purchase agreement for output from the Loviisa nuclear power plant. This means that a large share of Finland's most secure and predictable electricity is being 'reserved' for one tech giant, reducing its availability on the general market.
As a positive aspect, companies often mention the integration of district heating – the waste heat generated by data centres is planned to be channelled into urban heating networks. However, although this helps to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels for heating, it does not outweigh the risks of basic electricity deficits.
What is happening in other European countries?
The Finnish case is not unique – a serious backlash against uncontrolled data centre construction is brewing in Europe, and several countries have already introduced strict restrictions.
In Ireland, the national grid operator EirGrid has introduced a de facto moratorium on connecting new data centres in the Dublin region. This step was taken because data centres in Ireland consume more than 20% of the entire country's electricity, which is more than all urban households combined. Such massive consumption creates real and serious threats of power outages throughout the region.
The Dutch government has set strict restrictions on the construction of new 'hyperscale' data centres. The main reason for this action was growing public dissatisfaction. Residents and activists were concerned by the fact that the huge centres occupy valuable agricultural land and consume millions of litres of drinking water in cooling processes.
In Germany, a new Energy Efficiency Act has been passed, aimed at tackling the inefficient use of resources in data centres. The law makes it a mandatory requirement for data centres to pass their generated waste heat to local heating networks. Likewise, centres must reach and maintain very strict energy efficiency performance indicators.
The Norwegians, for their part, have introduced regulations requiring all data centres to mandatorily register and provide detailed information about their owners, as well as the services provided. This was done so that the state could legally refuse to allocate grid capacity to projects that provide no added value to the local economy, citing cryptocurrency mining as a prominent example.
What does the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment procedure include?
An Environmental Impact Assessment, or EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment), is a legally defined process that Google had ignored or tried to rush in Finland. Its goal is to identify and prevent risks before the first tree is felled or excavators arrive. In the context of data centres, an EIA includes several critical stages and areas of study.
Firstly, research is carried out into how the loss of hundreds of hectares of forest will affect local flora and fauna, especially protected species or nesting sites – it should be emphasised that the publicity and availability of the EIA for Latvia's Ķemeri LIFE Hydroplan project remain unknown, even though 333 ha of forest were cleared in Latvia at the time, which local environmental activist organisations pretended not to notice. In Google 's case in Finland, the clearing of 300 hectares of forest without this assessment is considered a gross violation, as it is unknown what ecosystems have been irreversibly damaged.
Secondly, the impact on water resources is studied, as data centres require cooling. The EIA determines where the water will be taken from – groundwater or rivers/lakes – and how it will affect local water levels. It is equally important to investigate where the heated or chemically treated cooling water will be discharged and how it will affect the ecology of water bodies.
Thirdly, it is essential to assess changes in soil and hydrology, as the removal of topsoil and the altering of drainage systems, which Google had already carried out in Muhos, can cause local flooding, change groundwater flow, and threaten adjacent agricultural or forest lands.
Another important factor is noise and electromagnetic pollution. Data centre cooling systems and fans create a constant low-frequency hum. The EIA measures noise propagation to ensure it will not disturb residents of nearby homesteads or settlements, or wild animals.
A mandatory and very crucial component of an EIA is hearing the views of local residents, non-governmental organisations, and experts. The public has the right to view project plans and submit objections, which Google had prevented by beginning work prematurely.
What is the situation here – in Latvia and the Baltics?
Unlike in Western Europe, where data centres face strict restrictions, there are currently no moratoriums or energy consumption bans in Latvia and the other Baltic states. On the contrary – the Baltics are actively positioning themselves as a free, secure, and sustainable alternative to the major European technology hubs. The region does, however, have its own specifics related to security and rapid infrastructure development.
Because Western Europe lacks spare electricity capacity, the Baltic states are experiencing a 'boom' in data centre investment. The region's advantage lies in its well-developed internet connections and growing share of renewable energy.
A new Delska data centre has been opened in Riga with 10 MW capacity – future-proofed up to 30 MW, adapted for high-power artificial intelligence solution processing. In the vicinity of Tallinn, Greenergy Data Centers is in operation, currently the largest and most powerful facility in the Baltics with a planned capacity of 31.5 MW. The Lithuanians are focusing on green energy and infrastructure synergy. Recently, the network operator Litgrid and Kruonis DC signed an agreement on the integration of a new data centre at the Kruonis Pumped Storage Hydroelectric Power Plant.
As the Baltics are located in a strategically sensitive region, the main regulatory emphasis is placed on cybersecurity and physical inviolability, not energy saving. New Cabinet Regulations on data centre security requirements have come into force in Latvia, which impose a mandatory obligation on maintainers of critical systems to perform audits and provide telemetry data to cybersecurity supervisors in real time. The State Radio and Television Centre of Latvia (LVRTC) is building a physically protected data centre named Pozitrons, which is deliberately located more than 140 km away from Riga to mitigate risks in the event of a threat to the state.
Although local laws do not yet force the mandatory return of heat to cities as in Germany, the newly built Baltic operators do so voluntarily due to market competition. The latest centres are fully powered by 100% renewable energy and are forming partnerships with district heating companies, such as Rīgas Siltums, to use the heat generated by servers usefully.
The Baltic states are currently trying to use Western Europe's bans to their advantage by offering spare capacity to global tech giants.
Sources: Finnish information websites and Baltic technology industry portals