Nebius unveils $10 billion AI data center in Finland as Europe races to build compute infrastructure

Nebius Announces Major AI Data Center Investment in Finland

AI infrastructure firm Nebius unveiled plans to build a new AI data center in Lappeenranta, Finland, with an estimated value of more than $10 billion3

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. The facility will offer up to 310 megawatts of power capacity, making it one of Europe's largest AI factories when it becomes operational1

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. Finnish developer Polarnode is already building the site, with capacity expected to come online in phases starting in 20273

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. Nebius CEO Arkady Volozh stated that "Lappeenranta represents a significant addition to our global AI infrastructure build-out, and will make a significant contribution to achieving our capacity goals"1

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Europe AI Infrastructure Push Intensifies

The announcement reflects Europe's urgent push to develop AI compute infrastructure as the region scrambles to keep pace in the global AI race. The Amsterdam-based company has recently secured supply contracts worth more than $40 billion in total with U.S. software giants Microsoft and Meta3

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. The new site will be used to train AI models and run AI applications, and will not be tied to any single client3

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. According to the International Energy Agency benchmarks, the 310-megawatt capacity is roughly equivalent to three hyperscale data centres2

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. The facility represents one of Finland's largest infrastructure projects to date, with Polarnode CEO Mikko Toivanen emphasizing it would support European data sovereignty3

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Nebius European Expansion Accelerates with Strategic Capacity Goals

The Lappeenranta facility will be Nebius' largest outside the United States, surpassing the 240 MW project it announced near Lille, France, in February3

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. Its largest operational European facility is currently a 75 MW site in Mantsala, Finland3

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. The company is targeting to supply at least 2.5 gigawatts of power by the end of 2026, with a long-term target of 3.3 GW by 2030, which Nebius claims is one of the "largest footprints of purpose-built AI compute" in the world2

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. The site will eventually cover roughly 10% of Nebius' contracted capacity and use enough electricity to power up to half a million Finnish households3

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Finland's Competitive Advantages for AI Computing

Finland has emerged as an attractive location for AI data center development due to several strategic advantages. The country offers low energy prices, a renewable electricity supply, and a cold climate that significantly reduces cooling costs3

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. Lappeenranta specifically met critical requirements including quick land availability and grid capacity3

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. The facility will feature a closed-loop liquid cooling system that will regulate the computers' temperature while keeping water consumption to a minimum2

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. The system will also capture excess heat generated by the servers and send it to a local district heating network, which could redirect that energy to heat homes2

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. Chief Communications Officer Tom Blackwell noted that "the broader ecosystem environment is also very favourable here"3

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Broader European Data Center Investment Wave

The Nebius announcement comes amid a wave of AI infrastructure investments across Europe. French AI startup Mistral secured $830 million in debt financing to operate a data center near Paris, following a February announcement of a 1.2-billion-euro ($1.38 billion) plan to build data centers and compute capacity in Sweden1

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. U.K. startup Nscale raised $2 billion at a $14.6 billion valuation earlier this month, with plans to develop AI data centers in its home market alongside Europe and the U.S.1

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. In 2025, MGX, Bpifrance, Mistral and Nvidia unveiled plans for a 1.4 GW AI campus in France, while Brookfield committed to invest up to $9.9 billion in an AI data center in Sweden1

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. Europe had approximately 14,784 megawatts of power available across the continent's data centres in 2025, up from 10,539 megawatts in 2023, according to the European Data Centre Association2

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. The Lappeenranta factory will create up to 700 jobs in construction and 100 permanent positions once operational2

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