Jämsä residents welcome data centre as boost for Kaipola

Residents of Jämsä hope a planned data centre will bring jobs and renewed attention to Kaipola, the town’s former paper-mill district, Yle reports. French company Sesterce is proposing an investment worth more than 10 billion euros.

The centre, which Sesterce calls an “AI campus”, would be built on the site of UPM’s paper mill, closed in 2020. The company estimates it would create about 300 permanent jobs, while construction could employ around 2,000 people. Sesterce says it is committed to using Finnish contractors and subcontractors as a priority.

Jämsä Mayor Jori Reijula said jobs were the most important potential benefit for the town. He said a 10 million euro fund for the local community promised by Sesterce could, for example, help pay for a new library. Reijula described the project as potentially “huge” for Jämsä.

People interviewed in the town welcomed the prospect of new investment and jobs, while one resident said the electricity supply would need to be sufficient. Some residents have also wondered whether the centre could push up electricity prices.

Software engineering professor Tomi Mikkonen of the University of Jyväskylä said Kaipola was a suitable location because electricity, water, buildings and connections were already in place. He said the longer-term question was how much the project would benefit people in Jämsä and Finland. More than two-thirds of the proposed investment could go towards IT equipment, which is unlikely to be bought in Finland.

The future user of the data centre has not been named. Sesterce chief executive Youssef El Manssouri has said only that the customer is one of two leading AI laboratories. Mikkonen cautioned against assuming which companies he meant.

The Kaipola site is already zoned for industrial use.