Google data center Finland: 530 hectares cleared, work halted

Key takeaways

• Finland's Licensing and Supervision Agency (LVV) told Google subsidiary Tuike Finland Oy to stop major preparatory work at its planned Muhos and Kajaani data center sites, immediately and no later than 23 October 2026.
• The halt covers tree felling, topsoil stripping, excavation, ditching and site roads. It lasts until environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for both projects are finished.
• Yle reports that about 330 hectares of forest were cleared at Muhos and just under 200 hectares at Kajaani, roughly 530 hectares in total.
• Google says it has "fallen short" of its own high standards and has pledged to plant trees on 130 hectares at Muhos. Police in Oulu have opened a preliminary inquiry into the Muhos work.
• The viral claim that wolves are entering villages comes from one resident quoted by The Guardian. No authority has confirmed it.

Google data center Finland projects at Muhos and Kajaani are on hold. The Licensing and Supervision Agency (LVV) told Google subsidiary Tuike Finland to stop major site work by 23 October, after about 530 hectares of forest were cleared before any environmental review.

The sites are part of the at least €13 billion Google data center program in Finland announced on 9 September 2026, which also covers an expansion of its existing campus in Hamina and a new site in Vaala. Google calls it its largest single investment in Europe.

What the Google data center halt in Finland covers

The order was issued by the Licensing and Supervision Agency (Lupa- ja valvontavirasto, LVV) under section 32(2) of Finland's Environmental Impact Assessment Act, according to the agency's press release. It names the Muhos project and the Kajaani-Otanmäki project.

Work that must stop includes:

• tree removal and topsoil stripping;
• excavation, rock blasting and crushing;
• moving earth masses and digging drainage ditches;
• building work roads and storage areas.

Planning, measurements, soil surveys and other low-impact steps that can easily be reversed are still allowed. Tuike had until 14 October to explain in writing whether it would comply. LVV said it could use administrative coercion, backed by a conditional fine, if the order was ignored. The release did not set a fine amount.

LVV's reasoning is that the work already done changes the very environment the assessment is meant to study. Tommi Muilu, head of the agency's environment department, said "extensive preparatory measures have already been taken in the project areas," as quoted by Fortune. The agency first asked Tuike, the municipality of Muhos, the city of Kajaani and their building authorities for explanations on 18 September.

How much forest Google cleared at Muhos and Kajaani

Figures differ by outlet, so the table below shows each number with its source. The hectare figures from Yle are the most widely cited. Tree counts are estimates and have not been published by any Finnish authority.

Some outlets report higher tree totals for both sites combined. Bullquill could not trace those figures to an official or primary source, so they are not used here.

What Google has said

Google has not denied that the clearing took place. It says the felling followed Finland's Forestry Act and that it carried out nature surveys. In a statement reported by AFP, the company said: "We understand the concerns and have fallen short of our own high standards in this instance."

Antti Järvinen, Google's country manager for Finland, apologised in remarks to reporters reported by Yle on 14 October. "I am extremely sorry that we are in this situation," he said, adding that decisions were based on the company's best understanding of the law at the time. He denied that the work was rushed to get ahead of the assessments and said Google takes full responsibility.

After the order, Google said it would follow the agency's guidance, according to Finnish newspaper Kaleva. It has also promised to plant trees on 130 hectares at Muhos.

Police inquiry and wider scrutiny

Oulu police began a preliminary inquiry into the preparatory work at Muhos after a private individual filed a request on 2 October, Kaleva reported, citing Iltalehti. A preliminary inquiry checks whether there are grounds to suspect a crime; it is not a charge. Police said they were waiting for a statement from LVV.

The Finnish Association for Nature Conservation has accused the company of clearing forest without the required assessments. Its chair, Hanna Halmeenpää, said loggers had cut nature sites that should have been preserved. Environment minister Sari Multala said she expects the projects to be delayed and called it "a serious matter" if the company and its contractors acted as claimed, according to AFP.

Scrutiny has now spread to Google's older Finnish site. Yle reported on 20 October, citing documents obtained by Helsingin Sanomat, that Tuike felled trees on about 1.3 hectares of flying squirrel habitat in Hamina in 2018–2019 without a permit. Authorities issued a warning at the time and found the felling inadvertent. Google told Svenska Yle that its current Hamina operations do not affect the species' habitat.

The wolves report: what is verified

Headlines saying wolves are "descending" on Finnish villages trace back to a single source. One resident of Otanmäki, near the Kajaani site, told The Guardian that wolves had come into the village because wild animals had left the forest, as relayed by Futurism.

Bullquill found no statement from police, wildlife authorities or LVV confirming wolf sightings linked to the felling. Even a confirmed sighting would not by itself show that the clearing caused it. Until an authority publishes data, the wolf claim should be treated as one local account, not an established fact.

What it means

For Google, the immediate cost is time. No end date has been published for either assessment, and the environment minister has already said she expects delays. The halt does not affect the Hamina campus, which has run since 2011, but Muhos and Kajaani were meant to be two of the three new sites in the €13 billion plan.

The case also shows a wider pattern. Big AI data center projects bring jobs and investment, but they now face closer local checks on land, water and energy. Finnish voters have pushed in the same direction: a citizens' initiative calling for tighter data center rules and a "data center fee" has gathered more than 96,000 signatures, according to Fortune. Similar debates are happening in the United States, where Donald Trump has proposed that data centers pay a community "dividend".

For investors following Alphabet, the Finnish halt is small next to the company's total capital spending, but it adds to questions about the pace of the AI buildout covered in our report on Alphabet's stock and AI spending. Rivals that rent out GPU capacity, described in our neocloud explainer, face the same planning and permitting limits in Europe.

What to watch next: whether LVV confirms that work stopped by the 23 October deadline, the outcome of the Oulu police inquiry, appeals against local zoning plans in Muhos and Kajaani, and the timetable for the two environmental impact assessments.

Sources

• LVV press release via STT Info (Finnish): order to Tuike Finland Oy, 6 Oct 2026
• Yle News: Google Finland apologises for forest clearances at Muhos and Kajaani
• Yle News: Google ordered to suspend work at two data centre sites
• Kaleva (Finnish): police open preliminary inquiry into Muhos preparatory work
• The Next Web: Finland orders Google to stop clearing forest at two data centre sites
• Fortune: Google told to halt work on Finnish data centers
• Courthouse News (AFP): Finland orders halt to work on Google's data center sites
• DatacenterDynamics: Google pledges €13bn investment in digital infrastructure in Finland
• Euronews: Google to invest €13bn in Finnish AI data centres
• Yle News: Google subsidiary cut down flying squirrel habitat in Hamina
• Futurism: report on wolves near Otanmäki, citing The Guardian