French AI infrastructure company Sesterce said Thursday that it plans to invest more than 10 billion euros in an AI campus on the site of the former Kaipola paper mill in Jämsä, central Finland. Reuters put the investment at about $11.2 billion and described it as the latest in a run of foreign technology investments in the country.

What Happened

The first phase of the campus will provide 200 MW of capacity, with construction planned to begin in 2026, according to Sesterce. A second stage would raise the site to 600 MW, and the company said its longer-term goal is more than 1 gigawatt of AI capacity in Finland built on existing industrial sites.

Sesterce said it has already secured an anchor customer. Chief Executive Youssef El Manssouri told Finnish broadcaster Yle that the customer is one of the two leading AI labs, but he did not name it.

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The project is expected to employ about 2,000 people during construction and around 300 once the campus is in operation. Sesterce said Finnish contractors will be given priority.

Kaipola Green Port, which owns the site, is in advanced talks to sell it to Sesterce, board chair Martti Inkovaara told Yle. He declined to discuss the price.

Why It Matters

The location is the main asset. According to Yle, the industrial property covers 80 hectares and includes more than 200,000 square meters of industrial space, along with the mill’s existing electricity and water systems, buildings and transport connections. Its grid connection ties into Elenia’s high-voltage network.

Grid access has become the scarcest input for large AI data centers, and a former heavy-industry site with a high-voltage connection can shorten the time it takes to bring power online. UPM’s Kaipola mill closed in 2021, leaving that infrastructure in place.

Sesterce is also trying to address concerns about energy and water use. It pledges to enable 1 MW of newly built renewable generation on Finland’s grid for every megawatt the campus consumes, within 10 years. Cooling will rely on closed-loop liquid systems using rainwater and recycled water rather than drinking water. The company also plans a 10 million euro fund for local projects, chosen with the city and residents, starting once the campus is commissioned.

Context

Finland has drawn a series of large AI infrastructure projects, helped by a cool climate, relatively clean power and former industrial sites. Reuters cited Google’s 13 billion euro AI infrastructure plan in the country. Earlier this week, Applied Digital said it had secured access to as much as 1 gigawatt of potential power capacity in Finland for its first campus outside the U.S.

Local officials had little notice. Jämsä Mayor Jori Reijula told Yle he learned of the plans only a few weeks ago and called the project significant for the town.

What to Watch

Sesterce still needs to complete the purchase of the Kaipola site and secure permits and any grid upgrades needed for the first 200 MW phase. Construction is scheduled to start in 2026, which leaves less than three months for work to begin on that timeline. The other open question is the anchor tenant: naming the AI lab would show whether the capacity is tied to a single long-term contract and how quickly the site might move toward 600 MW.