A 22-year Google contract is what Fortum says makes keeping Loviisa open past 2030 possible

The Finnish utility has up to half of its nuclear plant's capacity under contract to Google from 2028, inside Google's plan to spend at least €13bn in Finland over 2027 and 2028.

9 September 2026 · 4 min read

What happened

On 9 September Google said it plans to invest at least 13 billion euros in Finland across 2027 and 2028, which it calls its largest single investment in Europe. The Finnish utility Fortum announced the same day, in a stock exchange release, a 22-year power purchase agreement under which Google contracts for up to 50 percent of the capacity of the Loviisa nuclear plant. A power purchase agreement is a long-term promise to buy electricity on agreed terms. Fortum says the contract starts in 2028 at a smaller share and reaches 50 percent for 2030 to 2049.

Fortum has an investment programme of approximately 1 billion euros to keep Loviisa running to 2050, and says approximately 80 percent of the projects and 700 million euros of that spending were still pending investment decisions. Google's release says that without the life extension programme the plant, which employs approximately 580 people and provides 10 percent of Finland's electricity, could not continue operations beyond 2030.

Why it matters

On this site the last nine days already carried two power contracts for data centres: Google's 396 megawatt geothermal deal with Fervo on 1 September, the largest of its kind, and the US government's closing of up to 1.9 billion dollars of financing to restart a shut nuclear plant in Iowa on 8 September. Loviisa is a third kind: a plant that is running now, and whose owner says it needed a long-term buyer to justify keeping it running.

A worked example, using Fortum's figures. Loviisa has two reactors of 507 megawatts each. Half of the plant is therefore up to about 507 megawatts, our arithmetic. Fortum also says the agreement is expected to enable a new 10 megawatt power increase on top of a 38 megawatt uprate already planned and expected to be live in 2028.

The package has other numbers. Google says its contracted new onshore wind in Finland now totals 629 megawatts, that a 94 megawatt battery near its Kajaani site is expected to be operational in late 2027, and that it expects the 2027 to 2028 construction phase to support more than 37,000 jobs and add an annual average of 3.6 billion euros to Finland's GDP.

What would change it, and when

The pending investment decisions at Fortum are the thing to watch: the utility says 700 million euros of the life extension spending is not yet committed, and this contract is what it says provides the economic certainty for those decisions. World Nuclear News notes the plant's operating licence was already extended in February 2023 to the end of 2050, so the constraint being removed here is financial, not regulatory. The 2028 start of the contract and the 2028 uprate are the first dates on which anything measurable changes.

What we do not know

Neither company discloses the price Google will pay for the electricity. Google does not say how many megawatts its Finnish data centres will draw, or how the 13 billion euros splits between buildings, energy contracts and community spending. "At least" 13 billion is a floor with no ceiling given. And the jobs and GDP figures are Google's expectations for a construction phase that has not started.

What this changes for you

If you live in Finland, a plant that supplies a tenth of the country's electricity is set to keep running past 2030 instead of closing. In a blog post Google also cites a study it commissioned, which modelled a hypothetical 1 gigawatt of new demand and found that placing it well could enable an estimated 520 million euros of savings to energy consumers over 20 years; that is the company's own study. If you live anywhere else, nothing changes for you today.

Sources

Everything above is written from these. Each line says what that document proves.

1. googlecloudpresscorner.com: Google's own release: at least €13bn over 2027 to 2028, largest single investment in Europe, the PPA, 580 people, 10 percent of Finland's electricity, "beyond 2030", 629 MW wind, 94 MW battery, 37,000 jobs, €3.6bn a year.
2. fortum.com: Fortum's regulated inside-information release, the counterparty: 22 years, up to 50 percent, 2028 start and 2030 to 2049 at 50 percent, the €1bn programme with €700m pending, the 10 MW and 38 MW uprates, 507 MWe per reactor.
3. blog.google: Google's clean energy blog post: the commissioned study, the hypothetical 1 GW, and the estimated €520m of consumer savings over 20 years.
4. world-nuclear-news.org: World Nuclear News, 9 September, independent trade reporting: two VVER-440 reactors, operating licence extended in February 2023 to the end of 2050.