Google announces its largest ever investment in Europe
Google has announced that it will invest €13 billion ($15.1 billion) in digital infrastructure, clean energy, and local partnerships supporting thousands of jobs and helping to fund regional environmental projects across Finland.
It is estimated that during the initial construction phase in 2027 and 2028, over 37,000 jobs nationwide will be supported and will contribute €3.6 billion ($4.2 billion) annually to Finland’s GDP. Once fully operational, the new facilities will support thousands of permanent jobs, ranging from engineers, to security, and catering staff. In addition, Google will sign a 22-year agreement to support the life extension of the Loviisa nuclear power plant, adding new onshore wind capacity, and contracting for a new 94-megawatt battery system to help stabilise prices during cold, windless periods.
Google has also stated that it will invest €31 million ($36 million) into local communities in Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos, and Vaala within Finland over the next four years. This money will be used to support education and economic growth, including teaming up with local colleges to offer AI upskilling programs for more than 4,400 workers and creating new training opportunities for 100 Finnish students for future data centre careers.
Big tech’s growing environmental impact
The investment reflects the growing scale of infrastructure required to support AI development, a trend that has drawn increasing scrutiny over the environmental footprint of large technology firms. Alongside the investment, Google has announced a series of environmental and community initiatives including plans to regenerate native forests and wetlands adjacent to its sites. Likewise, the company will construct accessible recreational trails, public saunas, and fishing piers for the community to enjoy[i].
However, this will not fully address concerns over the impact technologies such as AI are having due to big tech’s increasing development and expansion. AI is already under significant scrutiny regarding emissions, with concerns around soaring energy needs and water requirements. The IEA previously reported that growth in the use of artificial intelligence will lead to global electricity demand from data centres more than doubling over the next five years, reaching 945 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2030. Notably this figure is equivalent to Japan’s current annual electricity usage and represents an almost 128% increase from the 415 TWh of power used by data centres in 2024[ii]. The IEA has credited AI as "the most significant driver of this increase, with electricity demand from AI-optimised data centres projected to more than quadruple by 2030".[iii]
Data centres have also faced scrutiny over water use, with many facilities relying on potable water for cooling. The research paper “Making AI Less ‘Thirsty’: Uncovering and Addressing the Secret Water Footprint of AI Models” released in October 2023, found that globally, AI has the potential to account for between 4.2 billion - 6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal by 2027. This is equivalent to roughly half of the UK's annual freshwater withdrawals[iv].
Data-centre expansion remains the most visible aspect of AI's environmental footprint. Big tech in particular has received criticism for its part in the rapid roll-out of data centres. The ‘big three’, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google have seen their emissions rise collectively by almost a fifth in the past year, with the bulk of this growth attributable to data centre build-out.
References
[i] Google deepens its commitment to Finland with a €13 billion investment in AI infrastructure
[ii] Data centre energy requirements to double in the next 5 years, as AI demands soar
[iii] Executive summary – Energy and AI – Analysis - IEA
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