Cloud computing service provider $NEBIUS (NBIS.US)$ announced on Tuesday that, with the continuous growth in demand for artificial intelligence (AI) computing power, the company is accelerating the expansion of its European operations and will construct a new AI data center in Finland. Reportedly, the data center, located in Lappeenranta, Finland, will have a maximum capacity of 310 megawatts, with the project's estimated value exceeding 10 billion US dollars. The company stated that, once operational, this data center will rank among the largest in Europe and is expected to begin providing initial services to customers by 2027.
As of the time of writing, NEBIUS shares were up more than 4% in pre-market trading on Tuesday.
NEBIUS CEO Arkady Volozh said in a statement: "We have been building in Finland for many years and are pleased to expand our presence here. Lappeenranta is a significant addition to our global AI infrastructure and will make a substantial contribution toward achieving our capacity goals."
NEBIUS recently signed supply contracts totaling over $40 billion with Microsoft (MSFT.US) and Meta (META.US). The company stated that the new data center will be used for training AI models and running AI applications, without being tied to any single customer.
Finnish developer Polarnode is already constructing the data center in Lappeenranta. The CEO of Polarnode stated that the data center is one of the largest infrastructure projects in Finland to date and will support Europe's data sovereignty.
Finland is considered an ideal location for building data centers due to its low energy prices, renewable electricity supply, and cold climate, which help reduce cooling costs. NEBIUS believes that Lappeenranta meets all critical conditions, such as quick access to land and sufficient grid capacity.
The facility in Lappeenranta will become NEBIUS's largest project outside the United States, surpassing the 240-megawatt project near Lille, France, announced in February this year. Its largest currently operational facility in Europe is also in Finland, specifically in Mäntsälä, with a capacity of 75 megawatts.
Notably, NEBIUS's announcement of this project comes amid a wave of AI infrastructure construction plans being unveiled across Europe. French AI startup Mistral AI announced on Monday that it had secured $830 million in debt financing to operate a data center near Paris, France. This follows the company’s announcement in February of a €1.2 billion ($1.38 billion) plan to build data centers and computing facilities in Sweden. UK-based startup Nscale announced earlier this month that it raised $2 billion at a valuation of $14.6 billion and plans to develop AI data centers in the UK, as well as in Europe and the US.
Meanwhile, in 2025, MGX, Bpifrance, Mistral, and NVIDIA announced plans to build a 1.4-gigawatt AI campus in France. Brookfield also stated it would invest up to $9.9 billion to construct an AI data center in Sweden. Last year, OpenAI announced it would collaborate with Nscale to build an AI data center resembling a 'Stargate' in Norway.
However, despite the flurry of AI computing power investment commitments in Europe, the region still faces significant challenges in infrastructure development. Energy prices in Europe are higher than in the US, and projects face difficulties in connecting to the grid or securing alternative energy sources.
Editor/Jayden