Google has signed a nuclear Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Fortum in Loviisa, Finland, its first outside the US.

The 22-year deal will see the hyperscaler offtake power from the Loviisa nuclear power plant. The plant houses two Soviet-designed VVER-440 pressurized water reactors, each with a capacity of 507MW, and was commissioned in 1970.

The PPA is expected to support a lifetime extension and power upgrades at the plant through 2050, with Google agreeing to offtake 50 percent of the plant’s capacity from 2030 to 2049. The PPA will come into effect in 2028, with a smaller offtake.

Fortum is currently undertaking upgrades at the plant, with an ongoing investment program worth approximately €1 billion ($1.16bn) to extend the plant’s lifetime to 2050. According to the company, 80 percent of the project’s capital expenditure is pending investment decisions.

However, the company said the Google PPA is expected to provide the revenue certainty needed to continue investments associated with a 100 percent lifetime extension of Loviisa, and to enable a 10MW capacity increase at the plant, in addition to an already planned 38MW uprate, expected to go live in 2028.

“Our collaboration with Google provides a strong foundation for the continued development and reliable operation of our Loviisa power plant for decades to come,” said Fortum’s president and CEO Markus Rauramo.

In addition to the PPA, the companies also signed a Memorandum of Understanding that aims to support both companies’ growth in Finland and bring additional energy supply online across the country.

The MoU will also set the parameters for collaboration on new research and development (R&D) and engineering career pathways. The PPA is part of Google’s broader investment in Finland, with the hyperscaler committing to invest €13bn ($15.1bn) over the next two years, including new data center facilities.

As part of that deal, the companies signed an agreement to optimize a new 94MW battery storage system, which Google has contracted for, to be located adjacent to Google’s new data center in Kajaani.

“We are proud to have called Finland home for the past 15 years, and as we grow our footprint in the country, it’s critical that we work with local energy partners, such as Fortum, to understand what the grid needs and invest in energy solutions that deliver long-term resilience and affordability for all electricity customers,” says Aris Karcanias, director of Energy, EMEA at Google.

“By supporting the lifetime extension of the Loviisa plant, which is located close to our data center in Hamina, where we first put down our roots in Finland, we’re doing our part to keep a critical energy source on the grid, mitigating system impacts from meaningful capacity going offline in the south of the country. As we work with Fortum and other partners to bring new renewable capacity and flexible solutions to the Finnish grid alongside our growth, we hope to develop a blueprint for responsible integration of AI into European energy systems.”

Google has thrown its weight behind several nuclear technologies in an effort to shore up its energy supply in the short and long term. Last October, the company signed a PPA with Next Era Energy to offtake power from the 615MW Duane Arnold Energy Center in Palo, Iowa.

Google has also signed a 200MW PPA with Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), a nuclear fusion firm, a 50MW PPA with small modular reactor firm Kairos Power, and a strategic agreement with Elementl Power to develop three nuclear energy projects in the US.

Fortum is a Finnish state-owned energy firm, headquartered in Espoo. It primarily focuses on low-carbon power and has a significant hydropower portfolio, alongside nuclear and renewable assets. The company has also expanded into data center development and is advancing projects in Pennala, Rauma, Klaukkala, Harjavalta, and Jyväskylä.