• Close expected on capital raise by the end of September
• Investment will support delivery of a data centre facility and energy assets
• Project marks Ecogrid.Energy’s second energy-first data centre project, with more to follow

Ecogrid.Energy is currently in the due diligence phase of a capital raise to support the delivery of an EUR 800m–900m data centre project that it is developing in Lahti, Finland, founder Seppo Ihalainen told NPM in a recent interview.

He added that 25–35% of the total capex requirement will likely be met with equity, while the remaining portion would be covered by debt.

Initia Corpoarate Finance, part of Corporate Finance International (CPI), is advising on the process, which is expected to reach a close by the end of the month.

The total expected investment would include delivery of 100 MW of hydrogen-ready flexible generation assets that will provide both balance power and backup power generation, in addition to a data centre facility capable of hosting 85–90 MW of IT load.

“We want to use as much renewable energy from the grid as possible but in case there is no power from grid you need backup power, and the same onsite power plant that you use for the balance power you can use as a backup power,” Ihalainen said.

Additionally, the data centre site will also feature battery storage. Ecogrid.Energy’s design model includes two battery energy storage system (BESS) layers: MV UPS integrated BESS to protect DC load (100 MW / 33MWh) and grid forming BESS to protect the grid.

It is expected that Ecogrid.Energy and its investment partners will own the energy generation and storage assets, as well as the data centre facility, which it will provide through energy-as-a-service and facility-as-a-service arrangements.

“Through that single EUR 900m investment we will create two separate revenue streams,” Ihalainen said. “We can generate data centre revenue [from an operator that] will lease the data centre infrastructure…[and] at the same time, we are selling [energy] instead of the backup generators just idling there for 15 years.”

Ecogrid.Energy estimated that for in 2025, the energy assets planned for Lahti could have operated for 800 hours generating an estimated EUR 20–30m of additional revenue, a circa 30% increase compared to data centre revenue alone.

In 2024, the generation assets could have run for 1,500 hours adding EUR 50m–80m in revenue – equivalent to 50–60% additional revenue compared to data centres alone.

The battery storage asset is also expected to generate revenue through participation in the reserve markets.

Meanwhile, the ultimate tenant or tenants of the facility will bring in their own compute technology.

Ihalainen explained that Ecogrid.Energy will seek one or two co-location tenants under a wholesale agreement. He noted that currently demand from neocloud providers is high but mentioned hyperscalers are also interested.

NPM previously reported that construction of the Lahti site would start in the first half of 2027 with completion expected in 2028.

However, Ihalainen updated to say that construction could take place as early as Q4 this year, enabling completion by Q4 2027 or Q1 2028.

Development of the Lahti project is alongside Nordic construction company Peab which initially owned and used the plot of land where the project will be located.

Ihalainen said: “It’s a good site in an industrial zone. It’s nearby the national gas grid, it’s nearby a new electrical substation, and it’s also very nearby a holistic heating grid connection as well. All the utilities we need are very nearby.”

Energy first strategy

The Lahti project reflects Ecogrid.Energy’s strategy of focussing foremost on delivering energy.

Ihalainen said: “If you are a traditional data centre developer you are building a data centre with the energy assets, but what we are doing is building energy assets with the data centre. Energy first not the data centre first.”

Ihalainen highlighted that energy management and optimisation, alongside energy purchase and trading are key challenges for data centres which Ecogrid.Energy was created to address.

It does so across three pillars which include acting as an advisor that supports data centre operators in managing and optimising their energy environment, as well as enabling access to its Energy Management and Optimisation Platform (EMOP).

The third pillar of Ecogrid.Energy’s energy support for data centres is through its campus projects, which comprise energy assets alongside data centre facilities.

The Lahti project marks Ecogrid.Energy’s second major project, with its first being the up to 400 MW Pori project.

Norwegian data centre investor ASP agreed to acquire the Pori project from CompassForge Ventures in December 2025.

The project is expected to begin this year with Ecogrid.Energy acting as a key partner in the project delivery.

CompassForge Ventures is Ecogrid.Energy’s main real estate development partner, with which it jointly develops Ecogrid Energy Parks such as Pori, though the latter also working on projects outside of this partnership such as Lahti.

Ihalainen is a partner and partial owner of both businesses, representing the largest shareholder of Ecogrid.Energy and a partner on the CompassForge board.

“With CompassForge, we have a big pipeline of potential data centre project at different [development] phases,” Ihalainen said.

He briefly discussed the up to 1 GW Raisio project for which Ecogrid.Energy intends to start permitting in 2027, once zoning is complete. Around 500 MW of the project could come online by about 2030, with the remaining capacity following later.

About 65 hectares of land has been secured for the project near the city of Turku, which could be expanded to 120 hectares.

Ihalainen noted that Turku is one of the largest cities in Finland, and offers extensive opportunities for heat reuse and in future will benefit from access to a national hydrogen pipeline.

While the current focus is on delivering Lahti, Ecogrid.Energy has additional projects that it plans to progress in the coming years, hoping to fast-track delivery to meet AI demand in particular.

“If you have capacity ready-to-build within 18 months, you are in a really good position,” Ihalainen said. “There are so many development projects coming to ready-to-build stage in 2029, and the supply will go higher than demand at this point, so it’s really important to get some good pipeline projects for early next year.”