Fortum signs on as site partner for Nscale data centre in Harjavalta, as Europe's best-funded AI group eyes Nordic expansion
London-based Nscale, which raised $2 billion in Series C funding last month, has announced plans to build a data centre in Harjavalta as part of an expanding Finnish footprint — though capacity figures and a construction timeline have yet to be determined.
Text by Martti Asikainen 14.4.2026 | Photo by Adobe Stock Photos
Nscale, a UK-based AI infrastructure company valued at $14.6 billion following its March 2026 fundraise, has selected the Sievari industrial area in Harjavalta as the site for a planned data centre, according to a joint press release issued on 2 April. The Town of Harjavalta owns the site and has begun preliminary land sale negotiations with the company.
Fortum, the Nordic energy company, has signed a site securing and development agreement with Nscale, building on a planning reservation agreement it reached with the Town of Harjavalta in June 2024. Under the arrangement, Fortum will support grid connection design and permitting for the project. The company stated the agreement would have no material impact on its earnings.
What Fortum's role involves
Fortum’s involvement reflects a broader commercial strategy to develop industrial sites in the Nordic region for energy-intensive customers. The company has positioned itself as a facilitator for businesses seeking low-carbon operational bases, drawing on Finland’s power mix of nuclear, hydroelectric, and wind generation.
“This cooperation reflects our broader strategy to enable low-carbon growth by providing customers with the right conditions to build scalable, sustainable operations in Finland,” said Jyrki Holappa, Customer Site Development Director at Fortum, in a statement. He described data centre projects of this kind as playing a key role in driving electrification and digitalisation.
Fortum’s power generation is currently 99% from renewable or nuclear sources, giving it one of the lowest specific CO₂ emissions among European energy companies, according to the company.
Finland's appeal for AI compute
Nscale cited Finland’s energy infrastructure and climate as factors in the site selection. The country’s cool temperatures reduce the energy required for cooling high-density computing equipment, whilst its nuclear and renewable generation provides a stable, low-carbon power supply — conditions that have attracted a succession of major data centre operators to the country.
“The Nordic market, and Finland specifically, offers unique advantages that align perfectly with our commitment to sustainable, high-density infrastructure,” said Markus Päivinen, Nscale’s Managing Director for Finland and the Baltics. He said the company intended to contribute to the local economy and deliver computing capacity for digital services across Europe.
Hannu Kuusela, Mayor of Harjavalta, welcomed the announcement, citing employment prospects during both construction and operation as significant for the town’s economy.
Who Nscale is
Nscale, founded in 2024 and headquartered in London, designs and operates data centres built specifically for GPU-dense AI workloads rather than general cloud services. Its existing infrastructure spans Norway, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Iceland, and the United States.
The company completed a $2 billion Series C round on 9 March 2026 — which it described as the largest in European history — at a valuation of $14.6 billion. The round was led by Norwegian industrial conglomerate Aker ASA and 8090 Industries, with further participation from Citadel, Dell, Jane Street, Lenovo, Nokia, NVIDIA, and Point72, among others. Following the round, Aker holds approximately 27.3% of Nscale’s share capital, making it the company’s largest shareholder. Nscale’s CEO has previously indicated the company may pursue an initial public offering as early as 2026.
Early-stage project
The Harjavalta announcement is one of several Finnish projects Nscale is currently developing, according to Data Center Dynamics. The company’s Nordic expansion follows an established pattern of large-scale compute investment in Finland. Google has invested more than €4.5 billion in its Hamina data centre since 2009, including a €1 billion expansion announced in 2024 to support AI-related workloads. Hong Kong-listed 3 E Network separately announced plans in February to position its Mikkeli facility as a Nordic AI computing gateway.
The Harjavalta project remains at an early stage. The total power capacity of the planned facility is yet to be determined and will be established during subsequent design and permitting phases, according to the announcement. No construction start date or operational timeline was provided, and the press release included no figures on projected investment, employment numbers, or the scale of the facility relative to Nscale’s other sites.
The announcement coincides with a period of rapid expansion and fundraising for Nscale, raising the question of whether the company’s infrastructure commitments — across multiple countries simultaneously — can be delivered at the pace the capital markets appear to expect.
