Finland's Licensing and Supervisory Authority has told a Google subsidiary to suspend major site work at two planned data center campuses because extensive land clearing took place before required environmental reviews were finished, Data Center Knowledge reported Thursday. The order covers Google's sites at Muhos and Kajaani-Otanmäki in northern Finland, part of the company's €13 billion expansion in the country.

What Happened

The regulator, known by its Finnish initials LVV, directed Tuike Finland Oy to halt heavy work at both locations. According to figures the company reported, about 330 hectares have been felled or prepared at Muhos and just under 200 hectares at Kajaani-Otanmäki.

The suspension applies to tree and topsoil removal, excavation, blasting, crushing, earthmoving, drainage work and the building of site roads and storage areas. Planning, measurements, soil surveys and other limited or reversible activities may continue.

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Tuike must explain in writing by Oct. 14 how it intends to comply, and the suspension must be in place no later than Oct. 23. LVV is seeking voluntary compliance first and said it could open formal enforcement, including conditional fines, if the company does not follow the order. The authority had sent a request for information on Sept. 18 to Tuike, the municipality of Muhos, the city of Kajaani and local building-control officials.

LVV expects the environmental impact assessment reports for both projects to be finished in 2026. Major work cannot resume until that process concludes.

Google's Response

Google acknowledged it fell short. Sondre Ronander, a communications manager for Finland and Norway, said the company understood the concern and had not met the high standards it set for itself in this case. Google also said it had acted under Finland's Forest Act, carried out nature surveys and protected environmentally valuable areas, and that it is advancing landscaping and biodiversity plans that include tree planting across 130 hectares at Muhos.

Why It Matters

Most delays to European data center projects have come from grid connections. Finland's case is different. Grid operator Fingrid has said that Muhos, Kajaani and Vaala have significant grid capacity in an area where electricity production exceeds consumption, which is one reason the north has drawn AI-scale projects.

Stephen Sopko of HyperFRAME Research told Data Center Knowledge that surveys and reversible work ahead of a permit are common and allowed in Finland, but that clearing on this scale went beyond that. "Power was the part Google had already solved," he said.

The stop also shows how environmental process can set the timeline for hyperscale builds even after land, power and political support are in place. Clearing hundreds of hectares is the kind of change an environmental impact assessment is meant to examine before it happens, not after.

Context

Google has operated a data center at Hamina, on Finland's southern coast, for more than a decade, and its €13 billion plan covers expansion there as well as new campuses at Muhos, Kajaani and Vaala. Finland has become a destination for large data center projects because of available land, a cool climate and surplus power in the north.

What to Watch

The next markers are Google's written response, due Oct. 14, and the Oct. 23 deadline for halting work. Any slip could trigger LVV's formal enforcement. After that, the timing of the two assessments will decide when construction can restart, and whether the order affects Google's schedule at Vaala and Hamina.