Earthmoving work at the site of TikTok’s data centre in Koria, Kouvola, on 16 April 2025. Photo: Sasu Järnstedt / Str / Lehtikuva
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Foreign companies have rapidly expanded their land holdings in Finland, with over 18,000 properties sold to overseas buyers over the past 35 years. According to the National Land Survey, the total value of these transactions now exceeds €2.5 billion. The scale of ownership, however, remains unclear, no central authority tracks how much Finnish land is controlled by foreign entities.
The government has facilitated some of the largest sales. In late 2023, the cabinet led by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo authorised a deal allowing US tech firm Google to purchase large areas of forest from state agency Metsähallitus.
Google paid more than €27 million for forestland equivalent to 2,000 football fields in Northern Finland, and an additional €15 million for a further 1,000-field equivalent from private landowners.
Google plans to build vast data centres on the land it acquired in Muhos and Kajaani. But the company is not alone. Microsoft has purchased more than €88 million worth of plots across Espoo, Vihti, and Kirkkonummi. A separate 46-hectare plot in Vihti was sold for €12.3 million. In Kouvola, a 20-hectare site has been allocated to Hyperco, which is constructing a data centre for TikTok. Hyperco’s ownership is routed through holding firms based in the Cayman Islands and Dubai.
The competition for land is intensifying. Teemu Nieminen, city manager of Kokemäki, described the situation as a “race”, as municipalities compete to attract tech investment. Kokemäki has agreed to sell nearly 100 hectares to the cryptocurrency-focused firm Bitzero for a data facility.
Minister of Transport and Communications Lulu Ranne has estimated that up to 200 data centre projects are under consideration nationwide. Fingrid, Finland’s transmission system operator, has received inquiries for grid connections totalling 60,000 megawatts, 40 percent of which relate to data centres. By comparison, all Finnish nuclear power plants combined generate just 4,400 megawatts.
While local governments hope for property tax revenue and employment opportunities, concerns are mounting about electricity demand, infrastructure strain, and the sheer scale of foreign acquisitions.
A key issue is the lack of a unified overview. Though the Land Survey tracks transaction numbers and prices, it does not calculate total land area in foreign ownership. Officials confirmed to Ilta-Sanomat that no such inquiry had ever been formally submitted before.
The current demand is reshaping the availability of land, particularly in southern Finland. Large industrial plots near energy grids and heating networks are now nearly exhausted in cities like Espoo, Vantaa, and Tampere.
In Espoo, the city has no land left suitable for data centres, according to municipal plot manager Katja Hakala. The city is preparing new zoning for industrial use in northern districts, but the plans do not accommodate the scale or energy needs of data centre operations.
Helsinki, Vantaa, and Mäntsälä report similar shortages. In Vantaa, most available plots are under two hectares. In Mäntsälä, the last large plots are already under reservation or development.
While the data centre boom has injected tens of millions into local economies, the trend has also exposed the absence of national coordination. Ownership structures involving offshore entities further complicate transparency. In one instance, Hyperco’s ownership changed mid-project and now includes Dubai-based billionaire Hussain Sajwani. The company reportedly sought a meeting with President Alexander Stubb through its new ownership.
As Finland becomes a focal point for energy-intensive data infrastructure, questions remain about sustainability, energy supply, and long-term land control. What is clear is that many of the most desirable sites are no longer available, and few know exactly how much of Finland has already changed hands.
HT
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Source: www.helsinkitimes.fi
