Nokia seeks approval for AI data centre campus in Oulu

Nokia is seeking approval for an artificial intelligence data centre campus in Oulu’s Toppila district, Yle reports. The city’s urban environment committee will consider a preliminary agreement on Tuesday that would enable construction of the campus and supporting facilities.

The campus is planned for Tervahovintie 10, behind and next to a district heating power plant. The plot is owned by the City of Oulu.

A favourable decision would approve the key terms of a preliminary property sale agreement and a future deed of sale for the Toppila site. It would not mean that the sale has been completed.

Marko Kilpeläinen, Oulu’s director of the urban environment, described approval of the draft deed as significant.

“If it is completed, the project will be extremely significant for Finland and Oulu. I hope the decision-making proceeds without delays,” Kilpeläinen said, according to Yle.

The buyers would be Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy and Nscale DC Holdings Finland Oy. The estimated price of the plot is 5 million euros. The first phase would include a data centre and an electrical substation, while a second data centre would be built in the next phase.

The final sale would depend on the completion of plot division, subdivision, a building permit and rental, environmental and right-of-use arrangements.

Oulu Energy Oy will apply to the city’s building committee on Wednesday for a building permit for the same AI Gigafactory data centre, the electrical substation and a visitor centre. The permit is proposed for approval, along with permission for the applicant to begin work before the permit becomes legally valid.

EU seeks greater independence in artificial intelligence

The European Union aims to support the construction of artificial intelligence factories in Europe as it seeks independence from American information technology giants.

The European Commission’s InvestAI initiative aims to secure investments of 200 billion euros in high-performance computing and artificial intelligence. The Commission supports the establishment of AI gigafactories in EU member states.

Responses collected for the EU initiative have proposed a gigafactory in six member states and at 60 different locations.