Finland is an excellent investment destination for data centers due to its cold climate, stable conditions, high-quality infrastructure, and sustainable development solutions. This has also been recognized by the tech giant Microsoft, which is building two data centers in the Helsinki Ring of Industry area.
The construction of the data centers in Vihti and Kirkkonummi is currently underway, with the aim of installing and testing computers and other equipment by the end of 2026. These data center projects promote innovations and green transition solutions not only in the Helsinki Ring of Industry area, but also in the whole of Finland.
“The project brings many significant benefits to local communities. It creates new types of jobs and offers residents’ opportunities for education and skill development. The green energy and sustainable solutions used in the project highlight our commitment to environmental friendliness and climate goals. We are proud to provide the infrastructure for this project and support its operation in the long term. This is a step towards a smarter and more sustainable future,” commented Kirkkonummi’s municipal manager Virpi Sailas during the groundbreaking ceremony for the heat pump plant to be built in connection with the data center in January.
The investment has also been warmly welcomed in Vihti. “This is the largest investment in the history of Vihti municipality. I see that the data center project will bring many new jobs and a lot of attractiveness to the entire region,” said Vihti’s municipal manager Erkki Eerola.
Microsoft’s data center concept always includes three centers located at a certain distance from each other. The data centers operate independently but continuously synchronize data with each other. This ensures the security of customer data with minimal latency under all conditions. In addition to Vihti and Kirkkonummi, a third data center is being built in Espoo. Overall, Microsoft has over 300 data centers worldwide.
The world’s largest data center waste heat project
Nordic energy company Fortum and Microsoft are collaborating on the world’s largest data center waste heat recovery project. The collaboration will cover about 40% of Fortum’s district heating needs. Microsoft has pledged to become carbon negative by 2030 and to remove its historical carbon emissions from 1975, the year it was founded, by 2050, which the heat recovery project supports well.
“We are extremely proud that the waste heat recycling concept of the data center area is the largest of its kind in the world,” says Patrik Öhlund, Microsoft’s director of energy markets for the EMEA region, in the accompanying video interview.
“In the future, our data centers in Finland will become a source of emission-free heat. When we build data centers in a new location, we always try to find new innovative solutions that fit that place. Finland is a cold country, and our data centers produce a lot of heat, so we thought that heat should not be wasted.”
A country at the forefront of digitalization
Finland is a leader in digitalization and innovation, with world-class companies and a progressive public sector actively promoting the digital transformation of society and businesses. As evidence of this, Finland has consistently ranked among the top in the European Commission’s annual Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) and the Network Readiness Index by the World Economic Forum.
“About 7% of the population in Finland works in various technologies and ICT, compared to about 3.9% in Europe. This gives us a significant advantage. We recognize at Microsoft globally that Finland has world-class expertise. We conduct product development in many areas, for example, key components of Copilot+ PCs have been designed in Finland. We have a lot of top expertise related to AI development here,” summarized Microsoft Finland’s CEO Mervi Airaksinen in her opening speech at the Microsoft AI Summit in October 2024.
The new data center area will play a key role in accelerating Finland’s digital transformation, as once completed, the data centers will provide not only reliable connections but also jobs for top-level experts. According to IDC’s estimate, over the next four years, Microsoft, its ecosystem, and cloud customers could together generate over 17.2 billion euros in new cumulative revenue, and more than 11,000 IT jobs could be created in Finland.
From Data Center Academy to Cloud Service Operator
To ensure a skilled workforce once the data centers are completed, Microsoft and local vocational schools, Omnia and Luksia, have jointly established the Data Center Academy. The Data Center Academy is a unique work and learning opportunity for students who want to work in cloud service operations.
“Our cooperation with Omnia and Luksia is a great example of how by increasing cooperation between companies and educational institutions, we can respond to the rapidly growing need for skills and labour,” says Mervi Airaksinen, Managing Director of Microsoft Finland. “By collaborating with Omnia and Luksia, which operate in our datacenter locations, expertise is created exactly where there will soon be a great need for it. In this way, we will promote Finland’s position as a leading country in technology also in the era of artificial intelligence,” commented Airaksinen in Microsoft’s press release.
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