Google Muhos data center, North Ostrobothnia, Finland

Google plans a data center campus at Pyhansivu-Leppiniemi in Muhos, a town of about 9,000 people in North Ostrobothnia, Finland, one of three new Finnish sites in a 13 billion euro investment Google announced September 9, 2026. Its Finnish project company, Tuike Finland, plans nine server halls on about 571 hectares roughly 4 kilometers northeast of the town center, between the Oulujoki River and the Oulu-Kontiomaki railway. Heavy earthworks are under way, but construction cannot begin until an appeal against the zoning plan is resolved by the court.

A private individual appealed the zoning plan, which the municipal council adopted in early March 2026, arguing the nature impacts were not studied enough and that Google's land deal had steered the zoning. Under that August 2025 deal, Tuike Finland will pay the municipality 26 million euros once the plan takes legal effect, and will protect about 255 hectares of forest as compensation. Google has already cleared forest and reinforced roads and stormwater structures on the site; a request to halt that work was turned down, the regional paper Kaleva reported. The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation says more than 300 hectares have been cleared at Leppiniemi and wants the Licensing and Supervision Agency to halt construction until a full environmental impact assessment is done; that assessment report is still pending.

Depending on the cooling method it uses, the data center could draw up to about 20 million cubic meters of water a year from the Oulujoki River, according to the 2025 assessment program. Google says the tree felling on its Muhos land complied with Finland's Forest Act.

Muhos municipal manager Kimmo Hinno says the town strongly supports the project; the land deal also includes about eight kilometers of new roads, a junction with Highway 22 and a rail underpass. Google spokesperson Michiel Sallaets told Kaleva that further work depends on the zoning plan being finalized and permits being obtained.