atNorth plans €2bn data centre in Salo, Finland
atNorth has announced plans to develop FIN05, a new data centre campus in Salo, Finland, representing a capital commitment of approximately €2 billion. The site spans 28.6 hectares and has secured power for a first phase of 75 MW, with a longer-term roadmap to reach up to 230 MW. The facility will connect to the national transmission network through a Fingrid substation.
The company estimates that customer-owned server deployments could add a further €10 billion of associated investment across the site's lifetime, though that figure is not included in atNorth's direct commitment. The Reykjavik-headquartered operator already has four mega-sites under development across the Nordics, in Kouvola (Finland), Ølgod (Denmark), Sollefteå (Sweden) and Haugaland (Norway), alongside a metro site in Stockholm.
The deal
atNorth's chief executive, Eyjólfur Magnús Kristinsson, said the project is designed to deliver critical digital infrastructure while creating "lasting local value" for the Salo region. The company plans to enter long-term power purchase agreements with local energy suppliers and work with Fingrid on grid-flexibility solutions.
Heat reuse is a stated priority for the site. atNorth has existing heat-offtake partnerships in Finland with retailer Kesko Corporation, in Sweden with Stockholm Exergi, and in Denmark with Vestforbrænding and Selected Group. The company says it will work with Salo stakeholders to explore comparable arrangements for FIN05, though no local heat partner has yet been named.
Salo Mayor Anna-Kristiina Korhonen welcomed the investment, citing employment creation during construction and ongoing operations. Matti-Juho Ervasti, a partner at developer Regant Oy, confirmed that the site has planning readiness and a secured power roadmap in place.
Market context
The Nordic data centre market has become one of the most actively targeted regions in Europe for hyperscale and colocation investment, driven by access to renewable energy, a cool climate that reduces mechanical cooling costs, and stable regulatory environments. Finland in particular has seen significant interest: its grid is managed by Fingrid, which has signalled capacity to support large new loads, and its proximity to major European internet exchange points supports low-latency connectivity.
atNorth competes in this environment with pan-European operators such as Vantage Data Centers, NTT and CyrusOne, as well as regional specialists. At 230 MW of eventual capacity, FIN05 is positioned in the mega-site tier, where total cost of ownership and power-purchase agreement terms are typically more decisive than rack density or connectivity alone.
Sustainability and regulatory read-across
The EU's Energy Efficiency Directive (recast 2023) and the forthcoming mandatory European Energy Efficiency Scheme for data centres place increasing obligations on operators to report power usage effectiveness and waste-heat recovery rates. atNorth's emphasis on heat reuse partnerships aligns with the direction of that regulation, and an established track record of heat offtake agreements in Finland, Sweden and Denmark could support compliance narratives as reporting requirements tighten from 2027 onwards.
Finland's grid operator Fingrid has been developing demand-flexibility programmes that reward large consumers for load-shifting during peak periods. atNorth's stated intention to participate in flexibility solutions at FIN05 could reduce effective energy costs and strengthen the commercial case for the site's early phases.
The company has not disclosed a construction start date, a target commissioning date for the first phase, or a named anchor customer for FIN05. Those milestones will be the key signals for the market as the project progresses.