Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy decides on state aid for data centres and registration obligation

Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy decides on state aid for data centres and registration obligation

The Government has decided to set up a fixed-term state aid scheme for data centres. The Government will also launch a cross-administrative legislative project to establish a register of data centres and lay down the related obligations. These decisions were made by the Ministerial Committee on Economic Policy in its Friday 5 December meeting, where the committee also decided that the security authorities would explore the security aspects related to data centres. To do so, the security authorities must have sufficient access to information on data centre investments and operations.

The National Roadmap for Data Centres drawn up by Veli-Matti Mattila, the rapporteur appointed for the task by Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, sets national objectives for data centre operations and defines principles for attracting data centres with high value added to Finland. The roadmap also includes proposals for measures to help Finland secure its share of the upcoming wave of data centre investments over the next few years.

Based on the recommendations put forth in the roadmap, the Government will set up a new state aid scheme for data centres that benefit both the national economy and society as a whole. The state aid scheme will be in the form of fix-term tax relief for ten years based on the amount of electricity consumed by the data centre. The tax revenue losses arising from the tax relief will be at most EUR 30 million.

The legislation on the matter will enter into force on 1 July 2026. The terms of the aid scheme will be specified in more detail later on, and the preparations will take into account the need for compatibility with the EU state aid rules.

A condition for receiving state aid would be that the data centre is registered in line with the new registration obligation and reuses the waste heat it generates or achieves a higher level of energy efficiency than required under the current legislation on electricity tax relief.

The registration obligation would give the authorities a better and more comprehensive picture of the situation with regard to data centre investments and operations. The situational picture compiled based on registration information would also be useful for identifying security impacts.

Further preparation will be carried out in cooperation between several ministries, taking into account the existing obligations for data centre operators and the related legislation, as well as the changes being prepared or anticipated in the future. Responsibility for the implementation and maintenance of the register will lie with the applicable authority.

Inquiries: Mikko Martikkala, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister in Economic Affairs, tel. +358 295 161 171