Google has approved the latest expansion of the Hamina data center complex.
The Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland (AVI) has received the green light for the environmental permit and operating license for the complex’s sixth server center.
According to the company, the new center will be operational next year. It is currently carrying out installation and testing work on site.
Google plans to hire about 40-50 new employees, bringing the workforce to about 400.
The construction site now employs about 1,200 people, which is expected to grow to 1,300 to 1,400 by the end of the year.
From a paper mill to a wind farm
Last year, Google announced it would invest 1.2 billion euros more in Hamina, about two billion so far.
Hakujätti has expanded its presence in Southeast Finland after acquiring Stora Enso’s former Summa paper mill in 2009 and opening its first server center there two years later.
The complex will run on electricity from three new wind farms, the company says.
Russian data retrieval company Yandex plans to double the size of its data center in Mäntsälä in south-central Finland, Talouselämä reports financial magazine. The Finnish company Ficolo is building a center in Vantaa, while the German company Hetzner has several in Tuusula and the US company Equinix in the Helsinki region.