Google just locked in nuclear power on European soil for the first time. The company signed a 22-year power purchase agreement with Finnish energy giant Fortum to offtake up to 50% of the Loviisa nuclear power plant’s capacity from 2030 through 2049, with reduced capacity deliveries starting as early as 2028.
The deal does two things at once: it gives Google a massive, stable clean energy source for its expanding data center footprint in Finland, and it gives Fortum the revenue certainty it needs to justify keeping a 50-year-old nuclear plant running for another two decades. Without this kind of commitment, Loviisa’s operations were staring down a potential shutdown around 2030.
The numbers behind the partnership
Google is not just buying electrons. The company plans to invest at least €13 billion, roughly $15.1 billion, in AI and data center infrastructure across Finland during 2027 and 2028. That figure represents Google’s largest single investment anywhere in Europe.
The spending will span multiple locations. Google’s existing data center in Hamina, which sits near the Loviisa plant, will see expansion. New facilities are planned in the regions of Muhos, Vaala, and Kajaani.
For Finland’s economy, the ripple effects are substantial. The investment is expected to contribute an average of €3.6 billion annually to Finland’s GDP during the construction phase and support around 7,000 permanent jobs once everything is up and running.
Fortum’s shareholders clearly liked what they saw. The company’s stock surged between 8% and 13.6% following the announcement. On the balance sheet side, Fortum projects that the PPA will lift its comparable return on net assets by approximately 1.4 percentage points.
Why Loviisa matters
The Loviisa plant provides over 10% of Finland’s total electricity supply and directly employs about 580 people. Losing it would have punched a serious hole in Finland’s grid at precisely the moment the country needs more power, not less.
Fortum has already been pouring money into keeping Loviisa viable. An ongoing €1 billion investment program is underway for life extension upgrades at the plant, which recently secured a license extension through 2050. The Google PPA essentially underwrites a significant chunk of that capital expenditure by guaranteeing long-term demand.
The two companies also signed a memorandum of understanding to explore further energy collaborations. That includes the possibility of developing entirely new nuclear capacity at the Loviisa site.
Fortum isn’t putting all its energy eggs in one basket, either. The company is simultaneously building 629 MW of new onshore wind capacity and a 94 MW battery storage system near Kajaani, one of the regions where Google is constructing new data centers.
Big Tech’s nuclear pivot goes continental
This deal marks Google’s first nuclear power agreement outside the United States. Finland recently brought the long-delayed Olkiluoto 3 reactor online, making it one of the few European countries actively expanding nuclear capacity, and has been more pragmatic about nuclear energy than many of its European peers.
The 22-year duration of the agreement is itself notable. Most corporate PPAs in Europe run 10 to 15 years. Google committing through 2049 reflects both the long investment horizon required for nuclear economics and the company’s confidence that its power needs will only grow as AI workloads multiply.