TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, has confirmed plans to spend roughly €1 billion constructing a purpose-built data centre in Finland as part of its “Project Clover” initiative to store European user data on the continent. A company spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Finnish facility will form the latest node in TikTok’s dedicated European data enclave, which already includes centres in Norway and Ireland.
Under Project Clover launched in 2023 TikTok is committing a total of €12 billion over ten years to build, operate and secure its global data infrastructure. The Norway data centre went fully online this month after two years of construction, and TikTok hinted that further European sites will follow in the coming years.
Finland was chosen for its plentiful supply of carbon-free electricity and robust network connectivity, both of which are critical for managing the traffic of more than 175 million European users. “First, we have abundant access to clean energy, and second, excellent connectivity that allows us to serve all of Europe from Finland,” Microsoft President Brad Smith told an EU conference in Brussels remarks TikTok cited when explaining its site selection.
The move comes amid intensifying scrutiny from Brussels and national regulators, who have barred TikTok from government devices and threatened broader restrictions on national security grounds. By localizing data storage and processing in EU-based, low-carbon facilities, TikTok aims to reassure policymakers that European user information remains under EU jurisdiction and protected from external access.
According to Reuters, TikTok plans to announce additional data centres elsewhere in the European Union. More than 20 new data-centre projects amounting to some €13 billion in investment are already planned across Finland, underlining the Nordics’ emergence as a global hub for energy-efficient, emission-free data operations.
