Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum is planning to develop a data center in Central Finland.
The company has signed a letter of intent with the city of Jyväskylä to build a data center complex of at least 20 hectares on land owned by the city in the Seppälänkangas area of Jyväskylä.
Fortum will develop and market the area to potential data center operators who will make the actual investments.
“Fortum is an excellent partner for us and has a strong international reputation among data center operators. Investments and projects like this require special operating conditions, which are now being met in Jyväskylä,” said City of Jyväskylän director of business development, Anne Sandelin.
Seppälänkangas is located in central Finland, some 270 km north of Helsinki. It is home to a limited number of local data center providers, including Konesali Yhtiöt Jyväskylä Oy (aka Jyväskylä Datacenter) and TNNet's Datavault Kanavuroi; a facility built into a cave previously used by the Finnish military.
Fortum director Vesa Maso added: “The availability of a highly skilled workforce due to the location of its universities, the availability and security of the electricity grid, and Jyväskylä’s existing district heating network and the need to increase its carbon-neutral energy production are some of Jyväskylä’s attractive factors.”
The planned data center area in Seppälänkangas borders Yritystie Road, the Koilliskehä Ring Road reservation, and nearby recreational areas.
Studies are being conducted to clarify the boundary conditions for the siting of the data center at the Seppälänkangas business park; the studies will serve as input data for the zoning amendment that will be launched this autumn.
“The Seppälänkangas business park offers good potential for a data center, and we are now exploring how large of an area can be made available for a data center,” said Leena Rossi, head of urban planning and land use.
