TikTok will reportedly spend another €1 billion euros (US$ 1.16 billion) on a second data center in Finland, less than a year after unveiling its first project in the country. The plans were first reported by Reuters, and TikTok told the publication that the project will be built in Lahti, in southern Finland.
TikTok said the facility will start with 50 MWs of capacity and could eventually expand to 128 MWs. It further told the publication that the investment is part of its “€12 billion European data sovereignty initiative delivering industry-leading protections for the data of over 200 million European users.”
The move comes after TikTok and its Chinese owner, ByteDance, dodged a U.S. ban in January tied to concerns about how user data is handled. Governments across Europe are increasing their scrutiny over social media platforms and the role their recommendation systems play in keeping children engaged.
Lahti’s mayor Niko Kyynarainen said in a statement, “In the context of Lahti, the investment is substantial. We are pleased that a main tenant agreement has been signed and that the project is progressing as planned.”
TikTok’s first Finnish data center, announced last year, drew criticism from some politicians since the facility was planned to be built in Kouvola. Although Finland’s defence ministry approved the project in 2024, several politicians had reportedly not been told about it in advance.
Wille Rydman, who was Finland’s minister of economic affairs at the time, argued that the plan should be reviewed again because of security concerns and the lack of public information about TikTok’s intentions. “At the very least, I would hope that this property development company would reconsider once more whether it really wants TikTok as its tenant,” Rydman told Finland’s public broadcaster Yle, referring to TikTok’s local partner.
TikTok’s European user information is currently stored with additional safeguards at data centers in Norway, Ireland and the United States. TikTok’s first Finnish site in Kouvola is expected to begin operating by the end of 2026 and the second facility in Lahti is scheduled to be completed in 2027.
Finland has attracted a growing number of data center projects in recent years. According to an analysis by Mordor Intelligence Finland’s data center market is projected to grow from 0.74 thousand MW in 2025 to 2.97 MW by 2030 at CAGR of 32.19 percent. The data center growth is driven by Finland’s cold climate, renewable energy, low operating costs and favourable incentives, each of which are attracting hyperscale and AI focus investments.
Companies such as Microsoft and Google have expanded into Finland because of the country’s cold weather, relatively cheap electricity and lower-emission power supply. Finland’s regulatory environment inside the European Union has also helped make it an attractive location.