Inside Finland: Google’s European hyperscale data centres and infrastructure ecosystem
Inside Finland: Google’s European hyperscale data centres and infrastructure ecosystem
Google has invested heavily and widely in data centres and related infrastructures in Europe. Currently, it operates hyperscale data centres across Europe: Fredericia in Denmark, St. Ghislain-Mons in Belgium, Hamina-Kotka in Finland, Dublin in Ireland, and Eemshaven-Groningen and Agriport in the Netherlands.
finland: A vital connection in Europe
Finland is well placed on the path of digital transformation. The Finnish government has recognised the value of the digital platform economy and acknowledged it as essential to remain agile and competitive. Additionally, public sector organisations in Finland are considered pioneers when it comes to providing digital services to citizens. This is supported by the legislation on the provision of digital Services (enforced 1.4.2019), making authorities obliged to provide their customers with accessible and high-quality digital services and enable electronic transactions.
Growth and jobs. Google is facilitating even greater EU-wide connectivity via Finland. It has done so as part of a wider infrastructure programme which:
Delivered cumulative realised investments of EUR 1.2 billion in the Hamina data centre and related network infrastructures, over the period from 2009 to 2019
This has supported EUR 1.4 billion in GDP in Finland during the same period
Furthermore, 1,700 jobs per year on average have been supported, during the same period
Network infrastructure. This digital infrastructure effort includes an important, often underappreciated, part of Google’s European economic contribution, namely the investment in network connectivity such as fibre links spanning the European continent and linking Europe to the global internet.
In addition to the digital transformation supported by Google’s investments, Google’s Hamina hyperscale data centre is on the forefront of the green transition in digital energy. The Hamina data centre was the first in the world to run using an advanced sea water cooling system based on water directly from the Bay of Finland.
Energy efficiency. Every time we as users choose to rely on services provided online, we channel indirect demand for energy. As traditional non-digital activities continue to shift to new digital applications, the way energy is being consumed is changing. The data centre industry has significantly raised its energy efficiency. In fact, recent global research established that while demand for data driven services has increased exponentially (by 550 percent) over the past 10 years, data centre energy usage has remained relatively stable (increasing by only 6 percent). At the same time, there is potential to improve efficiency even further. We estimate that, if across Europe all business email servers were hosted by data centres as efficient as Google’s, this would save the equivalent of the annual household consumption of electricity in Ireland.
Renewable energy. Driving the green revolution forward, Google is also the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy sources. It does so by committing to and signing Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs), key enablers for the renewable energy project developer/investor. As of September 2020, Google had signed 24 PPAs for energy production from European wind and solar farms to match the energy consumption of its data centres. In addition, in September 2020 Google stated that it will be carbon-free by 2030.
The study was commissioned by Google.
In brief
Google’s EUR 1.2 billion investment in the Hamina data centre and related network infrastructure supported EUR 1.4 billion of Finnish GDP and an average of 1,700 jobs a year between 2009 and 2019.
EUR 1.4 bn.GDP supported in Finland across 2009 to 2019, counting direct, indirect, and induced effects. The annual figure grew from EUR 50 million to a peak of EUR 260 million, and committed expenditure through to 2021 is expected to raise the cumulative total to EUR 2.0 billion.
1,700 jobsNumber of average FTE jobs a year from 2009 to 2019, rising to up to 3,600 a year across 2019 to 2021 on committed expenditure. Construction accounts for around 690 FTEs a year, security and business support around 220, and private services around 470 through induced spending.
445 MW Wind generation capacity across five Finnish farms supported by Google’s power purchase agreements. Across Europe Google has signed nearly 1,700 MW, making it the largest corporate buyer of renewable energy in Europe
77%Share of the Hamina data centre’s 2019 electricity consumption matched with carbon-free sources on an hourly basis.
59 GWhEstimated net annual electricity saving if all Finnish business email were hosted in data centres as efficient as Google’s, a 96 per cent reduction on current in-house use, equivalent to around 9 per cent of the electricity produced by wind power in Finland in November 2018.
Commissioned by Google. Authors: Dr Bruno Basalisco, Erik Dahlberg, Holger Nikolaj Jensen, Jasper Lutz, Joshua Brown, Laura Virtanen, Laurids Leo Münier, Morten May Hansen, and Sigurd Næss-Schmidt. Published November 2020. Investment data 2009 to 2019, with committed expenditure to 2021. Finland.
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About this analysis
Copenhagen Economics assessed the economic effects of Google’s Hamina data centre and related network infrastructure in Finland, as a country deep dive following the firm’s September 2019 pan-European study of Google’s hyperscale data centres. The GDP and employment estimates come from an input-output model that maps Google’s expenditure pattern against official national statistics from Statistics Finland, calibrated on Eurostat sectoral accounts and the World Input-Output Database, measuring direct, indirect, and induced effects. The study also covers network infrastructure and its role in connecting Finland to the wider internet, skills transfer through Google’s collaboration with the vocational education authority Ekami in Kymenlaakso, data centre energy efficiency, and renewable energy procurement, drawing on interviews including Ekami’s principal and Google’s global network acquisition lead.
The report states that its calculations rest on information gathered before the COVID-19 pandemic, and that while the input-output method remains a relevant basis for assessing economy-wide effects, future research may reveal changes in patterns of economic activity across value chains. Its disclaimer notes that the analysis is based inter alia on Google’s publicly available investment announcements. The email efficiency calculation assumes that all resulting new data centre activity is as efficient as Google’s 2011 data centres, and that Finnish firms not using cloud services are running in-house equipment.