Nebius’ 310 MW Finland AI Factory: Construction Underway in Lappeenranta

FJI source-qualified: four-document gate met, including project-specific government evidence. Qualification evidence and decisions →

Project status: Construction reported underway; first customer capacity targeted for 2027. Capacity scope: Up to 310 MW planned full development; current energized IT load unverified. How we verify evidence.

Evidence reviewed October 11, 2026 · Under construction

Nebius company profile → · Compare · Map

Nebius’ expansion in Finland has moved beyond an announcement. Construction reporting from Lappeenranta documents work on an AI computing campus whose planned scale reaches up to 310 megawatts. For investors, the next question is when the development becomes usable, revenue-producing infrastructure.

Nebius announced the project on March 31, 2026, targeting first customer capacity in 2027. That date remains a company expectation rather than a verified opening. The 310 MW figure describes the planned full development; it should not be read as operating computing load today. [1]

Project scope and readiness

The campus is in Pajarila, south of Highway 6 in Lappeenranta, Finland. The city identifies a roughly 101-acre industrial site leased from the municipality, with development involving Finnish project developer Polarnode and Nebius as operator. Construction is planned in phases over several years, allowing initial operations before the entire campus is finished. [2]

Independent reporting strengthens the readiness assessment. Yle reported on August 11 that building work began in July 2026 and identified Fira as the main contractor responsible for the first phase. Later reporting describes site clearing beginning in March. Those dates refer to different stages of work rather than necessarily conflicting accounts. [3][4]

Readiness: Under construction. Evidence reviewed for this draft supports physical development. It does not establish an energized first phase, commissioned GPUs, live customer workloads or a completed 310 MW campus.

Who is involved

Nebius (Nasdaq: NBIS) is the publicly traded AI cloud operator. The economic opportunity is supplying computing services after capacity is delivered and customers begin using it. Project-specific revenue, utilization and margins have not been established by the sources reviewed.

Polarnode is the Finnish project developer identified by the city. The available material supports that role but does not establish a complete allocation of asset ownership, financing obligations or construction spending between the parties. [2]

Fira is identified in Yle’s construction reporting as the first-phase main contractor. This is a documented delivery role, not an additional verified listed-stock exposure. [3]

NVIDIA (Nasdaq: NVDA) is a technology connection. Nebius’s announcement discusses Blackwell and Vera Rubin platforms across its AI factory strategy. That supports linking NVIDIA as a referenced technology supplier, but does not verify the final Lappeenranta hardware inventory, shipment schedule or campus-specific NVIDIA revenue. [1]

Internal company link: Nebius company research
Related technology link: NVIDIA company research

Power and cooling: plans still need delivery

Nebius describes closed-loop liquid cooling and potential integration of heat recovery. Those are design commitments, not measured operating results for this campus. [1]

The city’s project FAQ identifies local energy infrastructure as part of the location’s appeal and describes the industrial zoning and site. Its explanations provide useful municipal context, but they do not replace project-specific evidence of completed electrical connections or accepted equipment. [5]

The investment analysis should therefore track power delivery alongside construction. A finished building alone does not establish billable AI computing capacity. Neither does planned megawatt capacity establish customer demand, utilization or profitability.

Timeline

• 2025: City–Polarnode cooperation agreement, according to the municipality. [2]
• March 31, 2026: Nebius announces up to 310 MW and targets initial customer capacity in 2027. [1]
• March 2026: Site clearing begins, according to subsequent Yle reporting. [4]
• July 2026: Building work begins; Fira handles the first phase, according to Yle. [3]
• 2027: First capacity target; commissioning and customer availability remain to be verified. [1]

What investors should watch next

The strongest next evidence would identify the first phase’s delivered capacity, electrical commissioning, installed computing equipment and customer service start. Later updates should examine contracts, actual utilization and the cost of bringing capacity online.

Financial boundaries matter as much as construction milestones. This draft does not assign campus revenue using a generic dollars-per-megawatt estimate. It also does not attribute Nebius’s other customer contracts to Lappeenranta without a location-specific disclosure.

Investor takeaway

Lappeenranta offers a documented way to follow Nebius’s European expansion from physical construction toward potential computing revenue. The investment case will strengthen when power, equipment and paying workloads are verified. Until then, up to 310 MW is development potential, and 2027 is a delivery target.

Source register

1. Nebius, March 31, 2026 — company announcement, capacity scope, customer availability target and technology/cooling plans: https://nebius.com/newsroom/nebius-to-construct-310-mw-ai-factory-in-finland
2. City of Lappeenranta, March 31, 2026 — municipal source for location, land lease, developer/operator roles and phased development: https://www.lappeenranta.fi/fi/ajankohtaista/exceptional-data-center-investment-in-lappeenranta-nebius-to-construct-ai-factory-to-pajarila
3. Yle, August 11, 2026 — independent reporting on building work and Fira’s role: https://yle.fi/a/74-20240429
4. Yle, September 2026 — independent follow-up documenting March site clearing: https://yle.fi/a/74-20247400
5. City of Lappeenranta, project FAQ — municipal context; some answers explicitly attributed to project participants: Source →