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Finland's Licensing and Supervision Authority has told Google subsidiary Tuike Finland to keep preparatory work at its Muhos and Kajaani data center sites suspended. The agency set an Oct. 23 deadline for felling, excavation, blasting and road building to stop at both sites, according to its release. Baxtel reported the halt 
Aerial view showing extensive forest clearance at Google's planned data center site in Muhos, Finland.order on Oct. 10, and Google has since apologized and confirmed the work is paused.
The order followed the clearing of about 330 hectares at Muhos and just under 200 hectares at Kajaani, the authority said. A Guardian investigation published on Oct. 22 put the loss at an estimated 250,000 trees at Muhos, with the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation estimating a further 150,000 at Otanmäki, near Kajaani.
Google's country manager for Finland, Antti Järvinen, apologized and denied the clearances stemmed from inexperience or negligence. "All decisions were made based on the best understanding we had of the legislation at the time," said Antti Järvinen, Google's country manager for Finland, according to Yle. The company said it acted in good faith under Finland's Forestry Act and plans to plant trees across 130 hectares at Muhos.
The clearances have become a national issue in Finland. More than 93,000 people have signed a petition calling for tighter data center regulation and a fee to compensate host communities, according to the Guardian. Prime Minister Petteri Orpo called what happened at Muhos a "cold shower."
The two sites form part of Google's plan to invest at least €13 billion in Finnish digital infrastructure in 2027 and 2028, covering Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala. Fortune put the total at about $15.1 billion. The package includes a 22-year power purchase agreement with Fortum tied to life extension at the Loviisa nuclear plant, wind agreements that lift Google's supported new wind capacity in Finland to 629 MW, and a 94 MW battery near Kajaani due in late 2027.
Baxtel counts 142 data centers in Finland, operated by 60 providers, with Google's Hamina campus the largest tracked site at 30 MW. LVV says the environmental impact assessments for Muhos and Kajaani have been pending since summer 2025, with assessment reports due at the end of 2026. The authority will decide on a possible environmental permit after Tuike reports on the volume, quality and placement of the soil masses removed.
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