The Nordic region is gearing up for a data centre gold rush over the next five years, driven by its colder climate, cheap renewable energy, and investor-friendly regulations.
As the FLAP-D markets (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, and Dublin) face issues of grid congestion and land scarcity, developers are turning their attention northward.
Monitoring signs of upcoming data centre demand could be directly linked to respective PPA activity, as many operators opt for long-term PPAs with energy providers to secure stable electricity prices and meet sustainability goals. Historically, the IT sector has been the largest procurer of PPAs in the Nordics, accounting for around 35% (3.3 GW) of disclosed corporate PPA capacity as illustrated in the graph below. Among the Nordic countries, Sweden leads the pack with over 1.2 GW of IT-related PPA capacity announced to date. One of the most recent examples is Microsoft’s 180 MW PPA with European Energy, announced in June 2024, covering a mix of solar and onshore wind projects in Denmark and Sweden.
Hyperscale operators have been the main buyers of IT sector PPAs, due to their larger and more consistent power demand footprints. Designed for large-scale computing tasks, hyperscalers demand high power (5-10 MW to 150 MW or more) and extensive cooling infrastructure. Significant cooling requirements of these installations make countries in Nordic markets attractive for their operation.
As investment in these hyperscale data centres continues to rise, demand for PPAs is expected to follow, supporting the development of renewable energy projects in a region without direct government subsidy schemes.
Finland
Finland is rapidly establishing itself as a leading data centre hub, with over 600 MW of announced capacity to be developed over the next 2-years. Google already operates its largest European data centre in Hamina. XTX Markets is investing over EUR 1 billion in a new mega-campus in Kajaani, with the first phase to connect 22 MW by 2026 and reach 250 MW at full capacity. Microsoft and Google also have further expansion plans in the pipeline, but no specific details on the capacity of projects have been released. Polarnorde, meanwhile, has announced plans to develop a 150 MW facility in Lappeenranta.
Finland’s appeal is further strengthened by lower electricity tax rates for data centres, access to renewable energy (primarily hydropower and onshore wind), and robust grid infrastructure. To date, the IT sector has procured around 1 GW of PPAs in the country. Google stands out as the most active offtaker, with five PPAs announced to date, totalling around 446 MW.
Sweden
Sweden’s well-established data centre ecosystem, centred around Stockholm, continues to attract major players. Amazon operates multiple data centres in the area and is currently building three new data centres in the country. atNorth, an Iceland-based data centre developer, has secured a 30-hectare site in Langsele to develop a 200 MW ‘mega’ facility. The investment momentum continues with Microsoft committing EUR 2.5 billion to expand its facilities, while AWS and Areim are also moving ahead with new projects.
The Research Institute of Sweden projects that data centre electricity use will grow from 2.8–3.2 TWh in 2022 to 4.0–4.4 TWh by 2025. Sweden’s previous data centre growth has played a major role in PPA procurement with around 1.2 GW of capacity announced coming from the IT sector. Of note, Amazon signed four PPAs between 2019 and 2021, totalling 746 MW when developing three new data centres in Stockholm —securing its spot as Sweden’s largest corporate PPA offtaker.
Norway
According to the Norwegian Datacentre Industry, Norway has an installed data centre capacity of 501 MW – around 1% of the national electricity production. This share is expected to rise to 1.8% by 2028. Google has committed EUR 600 million to a new facility in Skien, signalling growing interest from hyperscalers. However, PPA activity in Norway has remained modest. Only two deals—totalling around 396 MW—have been announced with IT sector offtakers. That said, this figure is expected to grow as more data centres come online and players look to lock in long-term renewable supply.
Denmark
In Denmark, data centre electricity use could increase sixfold by 2030, driven by a sharp rise in demand from hyperscale operators. The most recent announcement comes from atNorth, which plans to develop a 250 MW facility at its DEN02 site in Olgod. The IT sector has emerged as Denmark’s largest corporate PPA offtaker, with around 720 MW of capacity contracted. Meta leads the pack, securing the highest PPA volumes in the country.
Tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta — alongside regional developers such as atNorth and Polarnorde — are expanding their Nordic footprints with sustainability a the centre of their strategy. Google and Microsoft are both members of the RE100 initiative, with Google targeting 24/7 carbon-free energy across all operations by 2030. As these companies pursue increasingly ambitious environmental goals, demand for green data centres and long-term renewable PPAs is expected to rise, reinforcing the Nordics as a hub for climate-aligned digital infrastructure.
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