Iberdrola se lanza a por 13.000 millones de Google en Finlandia

Spanish tech giant Iberdrola is moving aggressively to secure a major stake in Google's 13 billion euro investment in Finland, according to recent reports. The company recently acquired Caruna, the leading Finnish electricity distributor, positioning itself at the forefront of the competition to capitalize on Google's record-breaking funding announcement for the country.

Google has pledged to invest at least 13 billion euros (15.1 billion dollars) in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure by 2028, making it the largest individual investment by the tech giant in Europe. This influx of capital is expected to bring significant contracts in energy supply, as well as other related projects, to the Finnish market.

Iberdrola's strategic move to acquire Caruna, the largest Finnish electricity distributor, aims to strengthen its position as a key player in the electrification and digitalization of Europe. With Caruna's extensive network of nearly 1.5 million people and 89,000 kilometers of electrical lines, the company is well-equipped to exploit the growing demand for electricity associated with the development of new technologies in the region.

Finland has emerged as a vital hub for data centers, driven by the rapid growth of AI and digitalization. The country aims to quintuple its data center capacity to over 1.5 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, supported by the expansion of AI and quantum computing sectors. Companies like IQM Quantum Computers, VTT Center of Technology, and Aalto University have already established themselves in the area, creating a thriving ecosystem ranging from research to industrial applications.

While Google's investment is a major focus, Finland's overall data center capacity is projected to increase fivefold by 2030, according to the Finnish Data Center Association (FDCA). However, the potential for growth extends far beyond Google's initial plans, with some estimates suggesting a capacity exceeding 3.4 GW. This expansion is expected to have a direct impact on the country's energy consumption, with Fingrid, Finland's system operator, projecting national electricity consumption to rise from the current 83 terawatt-hours (TWh) to between 103 and 123 TWh by 2030.