Kainuu’s energy boom raises fears over nature and costs
Saturday 17th October 2026 on 04:45 in
Finland
Residents and researchers in Kainuu are concerned that a rapid expansion of data centres and wind power could damage nature and leave future generations with the costs. Yle reports that around 30 wind power projects are planned in the region.
Retired chemist Pekka Savolahti and his wife, Tarja Kousa, have followed plans for a Google data centre near their cottage in Otanmäki. They initially welcomed the prospect of investment and jobs, but Savolahti says recent reports about logging and occupational safety violations have changed his view.
“Do decision-makers even have grandchildren?” he asks, warning that environmental damage will ultimately be paid for by future generations. He says the green transition and move away from fossil fuels are necessary, but should take social and ecological sustainability into account.
Data centres’ growing energy needs have added pressure to build more wind power. Google aims to cover most of the electricity used by its data centre under construction in Otanmäki with renewable energy. Savolahti is also concerned about electricity prices.
Hanna Paulomäki, an energy transition researcher and doctoral candidate at LUT University, says the scale and effects of land-use changes have not been sufficiently understood. Data centres do not publicly disclose their electricity consumption, making it difficult to assess how much new energy production will be needed, she says.
Paulomäki says individual projects may comply with the law, but the combined effects of many projects underway at the same time are not being adequately managed. Wind turbines and power lines can fragment animal habitats, while research into the effects remains limited, the article says.
She welcomed an order by the Permit and Supervision Agency for Google to suspend work that significantly alters the environment at its data centre sites in Muhos and Otanmäki. Environmental impact assessments should be completed before work begins, she says, so that harm can be identified and prevented in advance.