French Firm Sesterce Plans €10 Billion AI Data Centre Campus in Finland, Promising 2,000 Construction Jobs

French artificial intelligence infrastructure company Sesterce has announced plans to invest more than €10 billion in a large-scale AI data centre campus at the former Kaipola paper mill site in Jämsä, Central Finland.

Announced on Thursday, 8 October, the proposed project is expected to create around 2,000 jobs during construction and approximately 300 permanent jobs once the facility becomes operational, according to the company.

Construction is scheduled to begin before the end of 2026, starting with a 200-megawatt data centre designed to support artificial intelligence computing. The investment could become one of Finland’s largest technology infrastructure projects if it proceeds as planned.

Project to be developed in phases

Sesterce plans to develop the campus in stages, with capacity expected to increase from 200 megawatts in the first phase to 600 megawatts in the second.

In the longer term, the company aims to establish more than one gigawatt of AI computing capacity in Finland, potentially using additional industrial sites.

Sesterce CEO Youssef El Manssouri told Finnish public broadcaster Yle that the company had already signed a contract with a future customer. However, the company has not disclosed the customer’s identity, describing it only as one of two leading AI laboratories. The project’s financial backers have also not been publicly identified.

The company says preliminary site clearance and interior work are already under way. However, the project must still progress through the necessary permitting and approval processes.

Former paper mill to become an AI hub

The proposed campus would occupy the site of the former Kaipola paper mill, which was shut down by Finnish forestry and paper company UPM at the end of 2020.

The industrial site is currently owned by real estate company Kaipola Green Port. Its board chair, Martti Inkovaara, told Yle that negotiations over a possible sale of the entire site to Sesterce were at an advanced stage.

The existing site includes industrial buildings, electricity connections, water systems and logistics infrastructure. Sesterce says reusing these facilities would help accelerate development while limiting the need to build entirely new infrastructure.

The company also says it intends to work primarily with Finnish contractors and subcontractors during construction.

Renewable energy and water conservation commitments

Alongside the investment announcement, Sesterce has outlined several environmental commitments for the proposed campus.

The company says it will enable one megawatt of new renewable electricity generation capacity in Finland’s power grid for every megawatt consumed by the campus, within 10 years of the facility becoming operational.

For cooling, the planned data centre will use a closed-loop liquid cooling system supplemented by harvested rainwater and recycled water. According to the company, drinking water will not be used for cooling.

Sesterce is also considering opportunities to reuse waste heat generated by the computing infrastructure.

The company says its environmental and community commitments will be audited by an independent third party, with the results published annually.

€10 million fund planned for local communities

Sesterce has pledged to establish a €10 million community fund when the Jämsä campus becomes operational.

The fund would support local projects selected in cooperation with the municipality and residents. The company also plans to include facilities accessible to the public, such as restaurants and education and learning spaces, while keeping the secure computing infrastructure separate.

The proposed investment could provide a significant economic boost to Jämsä, a town that has faced population decline and the loss of traditional industrial employment.

When the Kaipola paper mill closed, it employed more than 400 workers, according to Yle. The planned data centre would represent a shift from traditional paper production to digital infrastructure and high-performance computing.

Jämsä welcomes the opportunity but urges caution

Jämsä Mayor Jori Reijula has described the proposal as a potential opportunity to strengthen the local economy and create jobs.

However, he has also stressed that the project must move from plans to implementation and meet all applicable requirements before it can be considered secured.

Several permitting processes and other conditions remain to be addressed, meaning the proposed investment is not yet equivalent to a completed or fully operational facility.

If realised, the campus could strengthen Finland’s position in Europe’s growing AI infrastructure market while bringing new employment and business opportunities to Central Finland.

For now, the project’s next major milestones will be the completion of the site transaction, the required approvals and the planned start of construction before the end of 2026.

Sources: Sesterce official announcement⁠ | City of Jämsä⁠