Fortum and the City of Jyväskylä in central Finland and have signed a letter of intent to build a data center complex of at least 20 hectares on land owned by the city in the Seppälänkangas area of Jyväskylä. Fortum will develop and market the area to potential data center operators who will make the actual investments.
The aim of the partnership is to create a data center complex of at least 20 hectares and employing between 150-200 people.
”Fortum is an excellent partner for us and has a strong international reputation among data center operators. Investments and projects like this require special operating conditions, which are now being met in Jyväskylä,” says Director of Business Development Anne Sandelin.
”The availability of a highly skilled workforce due to the location of its universities, the availability and security of the electricity grid, and Jyväskylä’s existing district heating network and the need to increase its carbon-neutral energy production are some of Jyväskylä’s attractive factors,” says Director Vesa Maso from Fortum.
With the development project, Fortum aims to drive the clean energy transition and decarbonisation of industries in line with its strategy. Fortum has previously developed similar areas in Espoo and Kirkkonummi as part of the Espoo Clean Heat project in cooperation with Microsoft.