---
title: Google Signs 22-Year Deal for Half a Finnish Nuclear Plant's Output in €13 Billion AI Push
description: Google has signed a 22-year deal for up to half of Finland's Loviisa nuclear plant to power a €13 billion AI data-centre build.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-09-10T18:20:35.421Z
updated: 2026-09-10T18:20:35.430Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/google-fortum-loviisa-nuclear-ppa-finland
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/loviisa-nuclear-plant-google-280871.webp
categories: Green Tech
content_type: Analysis
region: Global
publication: Sovereign Magazine
schema_type: Article
---

Google has agreed to buy up to half the output of Finland's Loviisa nuclear plant for 22 years, the centrepiece of a €13 billion (about $15 billion) investment in AI infrastructure that the company calls its largest single commitment in Europe. Google signed the power purchase agreement with the Finnish utility Fortum, and it will run from roughly 2030 to 2049, phasing in from 2028. Under the deal, Google gets a claim on a fixed slice of one of the country's largest sources of low-carbon electricity for most of the working life of the data centres it is building.

The spending, spread across 2027 and 2028, will fund an expansion of Google's existing data centre at Hamina and new sites at Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala. Alongside the nuclear contract, Google says it has contracted 629 MW of new-to-grid onshore wind from two projects run by the developers Valorem and Suomen Hyotytuuli, and a 94 MW battery storage system near the Kajaani site, expected to be operational in late 2027.

Loviisa gives Google steady, predictable output. The plant has a total capacity of about 1,014 MW and supplies roughly 10% of Finland's electricity, and Google's contract covers up to half of that.

## Fortum Will Spend Around €1 Billion to Keep Loviisa Running to 2050

Loviisa is a 40-year-old plant, and the agreement only works if it stays open. Fortum has said it will invest around €1 billion to [extend the plant's operating life to 2050](https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/google-signs-nuclear-ppa-with-fortum-in-loviisa-finland/), the horizon that makes a 22-year supply commitment viable. No new reactor is involved: Google is contracting output from an existing plant, and Fortum is paying to keep it running longer.

## Microsoft, Amazon and Meta Signed Comparable Nuclear Deals First

Google's move follows a run of long-term nuclear contracts by its rivals. Microsoft signed a 20-year, 835 MW agreement with Constellation in September 2024 to restart Three Mile Island Unit 1, which closed in 2019 and is targeted to return in 2028. Amazon has contracted up to 1,920 MW through 2042 from Talen's Susquehanna station, which has operated since 1983. Meta signed a 20-year agreement with Constellation for the existing Clinton plant.

The driver is a step change in how much electricity these companies expect to consume. US data-centre demand is projected to rise about 130% by 2030, and the largest new AI campuses each draw between 1 and 5 GW. Global data-centre electricity use is forecast to grow from about 460 TWh in 2024 to more than 1,000 TWh by 2030. For a company operating at that scale, a multi-decade contract for firm, low-carbon power guarantees supply and hedges price at the same time.

## Finland Offers Cheap, Low-Carbon Power and a Cold Climate

Finland has become one of Europe's preferred sites for this kind of build for reasons that suit hyperscalers precisely. Its climate allows for natural cooling, its grid is roughly 95% CO2-free, its power runs around 50% cheaper than in other parts of the EU, and it connects to the wider Nordic market. With four sites, Google is treating the country as core AI infrastructure rather than a peripheral outpost.

## Most of These Deals Rely on Existing Reactors

The open question for the sector, and the one the announcements themselves do not resolve, is where the genuinely new electricity comes from. Google's Loviisa is an existing plant, Amazon's Susquehanna dates from 1983, and Microsoft's Three Mile Island is a restart. Analysts at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists argue that restarted and reallocated plants supply only a small fraction of surging data-centre demand, which means most of the load growth still has to be met from the rest of the grid.

The cost of that extra grid load is already contested. Carnegie Endowment research estimates that data centres and crypto mining could [raise average US household electricity bills by about 8% by 2030](https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2025/10/the-social-costs-of-an-ai-led-nuclear-energy-renaissance), and by more than 25% in the highest-demand markets such as northern Virginia, with ordinary ratepayers effectively helping to fund the build-out. The US regulator FERC has paused some behind-the-meter arrangements over concerns that data centres use the grid without paying their full share, and Amazon's Talen contract was restructured in 2025 to a front-of-meter model so that it pays transmission and distribution charges.

In Finland, opposition politicians have warned that a rush of data-centre demand could lead to power shortages and higher prices for ordinary consumers unless the country adopts a national permitting framework, since Finland has only a few gigawatts of spare capacity. Google has secured its own supply for the next two decades. Who builds the additional generation the rest of the AI boom needs, and who pays for it, is still unsettled.

## FAQ

**Q: Does Google's deal build new nuclear power or use existing capacity?**
It uses existing capacity. Google contracted up to half the output of Fortum's Loviisa plant, a facility about 40 years old, and Fortum will invest around €1 billion to extend its life to 2050. No new reactor is being built under the agreement.

**Q: What is a power purchase agreement?**
A power purchase agreement is a long-term contract in which a buyer agrees to purchase a set amount of electricity from a specific generator, usually at agreed terms and over many years. Google's Fortum contract runs 22 years, which gives the buyer supply certainty and the generator the revenue security to keep a plant open.

**Q: Why are technology companies reusing old nuclear plants instead of building new ones?**
Building a new reactor takes many years and often runs over on time and cost, while an existing plant can supply firm power much sooner. Restarting Three Mile Island or extending Loviisa's life gives a data-centre operator predictable low-carbon power on a workable timeline, which is why the current wave of deals leans on existing reactors rather than new construction.

**Q: Why do AI data centres need so much electricity?**
Training and running large AI models requires dense clusters of high-power computing hardware that consume electricity continuously. The largest new AI campuses each draw between 1 and 5 GW, and global data-centre electricity use is projected to more than double, from about 460 TWh in 2024 to over 1,000 TWh by 2030.

**Q: When do Google's Finnish build and its power deals take effect?**
The €13 billion is spread across 2027 and 2028. The battery system near Kajaani is expected to be operational in late 2027, and the Fortum nuclear supply runs from roughly 2030 to 2049, phasing in from 2028.