According to a report from the European Commission to the Parliament, Finland is among Europe’s leaders in data center energy efficiency, while water consumption is the second lowest relative to the amount of data processed. The Commission is proposing a common classification framework for data centers to increase transparency regarding their energy use. The data center industry warmly welcomes the proposal and commends the Commission for maintaining a firm position despite attempts by some Southern European countries to weaken the requirements during the preparation process.
Finland is an excellent location for data center investments when the objective is energy-efficient and climate-friendly operations, low water consumption, and effective utilization of waste heat generated by cooling systems. This conclusion is supported by the 2025 statistics published in the EU Data Centre Database, which requires all data centers with an electrical capacity exceeding 500 kW to report information related to resource efficiency. Based on the collected data, the European Commission is proposing greater transparency in data center reporting.
“In this case, knowledge does not create problems, it improves decision-making by providing up-to-date statistics on data center resource use,” says Antti Poikola, Excecutive Director of the Finnish Data Center Association (FDCA). “Data processing will take place somewhere regardless. From the perspectives of climate impact, water use, and the utilization of energy for heating, Finland is the best location in Europe.”
Electricity production in the Nordic countries is associated with very low carbon emissions. By contrast, a data center established in Central Europe will generally have a higher climate impact, as fossil fuels remain a significant source of energy in many countries. In Finland, the combined share of fossil fuels and peat in electricity production is only four percent.
Finland’s cool climate makes it possible to use water very sparingly for data center cooling. While water consumption is often highlighted as a concern in international discussions about data centers, such concerns are far less relevant in Finland than in drier and hotter regions.
In addition to powering IT equipment, data centers always consume electricity for cooling and other technical systems. The less energy required for purposes other than actual data processing, the more energy-efficient the facility is. Data centers operating in Finland benefit from the country’s cool climate, which reduces cooling requirements. As a result, Finland ranks among the best EU countries in terms of PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness), the standard metric used to measure data center energy efficiency.
Finland is also among Europe’s leaders in utilizing waste heat generated by data centers. Among facilities that supply excess heat for reuse, Finnish data centers rank clearly at the top in Europe.
“Sustainability criteria are increasingly important for both investors and customers when selecting data center locations. Alongside competitively priced electricity, they are a major Nordic advantage,” says Poikola. “Here, we can process data more sustainably and more energy-efficiently than anywhere else.”
Further information:
Antti “Jogi” Poikola
Excecutive Director, Finnish Data Center Association (FDCA)
+358 44 337 5439
antti.poikola@fdca.fi