Finland’s licensing regulator ordered Google on 6 October 2026 to stop clearing land at two planned data centre sites in the north until required environmental assessments are finished.
The order lands a month after Google announced a €13 billion (about $15 billion) investment in Finland, its largest single investment in Europe. It turns on a question of sequence: whether a company can fell forest and build site infrastructure before the law’s environmental review has run its course. Finland’s environment minister has said the projects are now likely to be delayed.
The Finnish Licensing and Supervision Agency (LVV) told Tuike Finland Oy, the Google subsidiary behind the projects, to suspend environmentally significant work in Muhos and Kajaani immediately and by 23 October at the latest. The halt runs until the environmental impact assessments for both sites are complete. Those assessments are under way and expected to finish later this year.
About 330 hectares had already been felled or prepared at Muhos and just under 200 hectares at Kajaani, according to figures reported by CNBC. Taken together, that is more than five square kilometres. Tree clearing began in March, with earthmoving and infrastructure work following later.
Tommi Muilu, head of the LVV’s environmental department, said available reports showed extensive work had already taken place, including removal of trees and topsoil, new site roads and storage areas, changes to ditches and culverts, and stormwater works. He said such measures alter the environment in ways the assessment process is meant to identify and weigh before work begins.
The suspension covers tree and topsoil removal, excavation, quarrying, crushing, moving soil, drainage and building site roads and storage areas. Planning, measurements, soil surveys and other easily reversible work with minor impact may continue.
Google has said it acted under Finland’s Forestry Act. The authorities say environmental impact assessment requirements fall under separate legislation, a point echoed by legal experts who say meeting forestry rules does not satisfy the assessment law.
A Google spokesperson told CNBC the company had “fallen short of our own high standards” and would follow the regulator’s instructions. The company said it had acted in good faith, carried out environmental surveys and plans tree planting across 130 hectares at Muhos.
Environmental campaigners have pressed the issue. Hanna Halmeenpää, chair of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, told AFP that areas which should have been preserved were logged at the Muhos site.
The two sites form part of a wider plan spanning Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala. Google said the construction phase in 2027 and 2028 would support more than 37,000 jobs and add an average of €3.6 billion a year to Finland’s economy. The package also includes a 22-year power purchase agreement with Fortum tied to extending the life of the Loviisa nuclear plant, which supplies about a tenth of Finland’s electricity.
Tuike Finland must give the LVV a written explanation of how it intends to proceed by 14 October. If it does not comply, the agency said it would consider enforcement proceedings and a possible fine.
