Applied Digital Corporation signs Finnish deal for up to 1GW of potential power
Initial power availability is expected in 2028; the release names no tenant, power provider or construction budget.
Julian Okafor
A proposed Finnish AI campus could draw as much as one gigawatt of electricity, with initial power availability anticipated in 2028. Applied Digital Corporation NASDAQAPLD, the Dallas developer and operator of large computing campuses, said on Oct. 6 that an agreement gives it access to up to 1 GW of potential power capacity in Finland. This is its first development opportunity outside the United States.
Applied Digital has begun marketing the proposed campus and says it is in discussions with global hyperscale customers. Its announcement names no Finnish power provider or tenant and gives no construction budget. Future investment and development decisions depend on customer demand, commercial milestones and regulatory and development requirements, the company said. The gigawatt figure measures possible power access; the release assigns no revenue to a Finnish customer lease.
Shares closed at US$24.70 on Nasdaq, according to the NASDAQAPLD quote page as of 4 p.m. EDT on Oct. 5. That close predates the Oct. 6 announcement, so it cannot show a trading response to the Finnish agreement.
The company's next scheduled update is its fiscal first-quarter results after the Oct. 7 market close, followed by a 5 p.m. EDT conference call announced Sept. 28. The Finnish release gives 2028 as the first year of expected power availability, without a month or a schedule for reaching the full proposed capacity.
Finland's Gigawatt Is Potential Power Access
Applied Digital describes an agreement for access to potential capacity and says the campus could scale to as much as 1 GW. It does not disclose how much electricity would be available at the start of 2028, a price per megawatt-hour, or when later increments might arrive. It also does not identify the agreement's counterparty, leaving investors without a named utility against which to check a connection schedule.
The company says its near-term spending and construction priorities remain in the United States. No Finnish customer lease, site construction start or investment amount appears in the Oct. 6 release. Those omissions limit what the announced power figure can say about future rent or the cost of delivering it.
"Our focus remains firmly on executing the projects in front of us in the United States," Applied Digital chairman and chief executive Wes Cummins said in the Oct. 6 release.
Cummins cited Finland's climate, energy system and connectivity as reasons for choosing the Nordic market. That is the company's assessment of the location; its announcement supplies no grid operator confirmation or power price. The release does not quantify Finnish cooling costs or make a performance commitment.
Existing U.S. Leases Carry Different Numbers
Applied Digital's American portfolio supplies a benchmark for a contracted project. In a May 20 lease announcement, it reported 1,200 MW of contracted critical IT load across four AI campuses, supported by about 1,670 MW of gross utility power. It valued base-term contracted lease revenue at US$31 billion. The Finnish announcement reports potential power capacity but does not state a critical IT load or a contracted rent figure.
The Polaris Forge 3 lease announced May 20 lasts 15 years. It covers 300 MW of critical IT load, backed by about 430 MW of utility power. Applied Digital put that lease's base-term revenue at approximately US$7.5 billion and expected initial operations in August 2027. That earlier release shows how much more a signed tenant arrangement can disclose than a power-access announcement: a lease term, computing load and estimated revenue.
Electricity entering a campus and power delivered to servers are different measures in the May disclosure. Applying the Finnish 1 GW directly to the American 1,200 MW of leased IT load would mix those measures. Applied Digital has not said how much Finnish critical IT load it could deliver or what capacity a hyperscaler might lease.
A Kentucky Peer Names Its Utility
TeraWulf Inc. NASDAQWULF, the U.S. data centre developer and bitcoin miner, reported on Oct. 5 that an amended agreement with Kentucky Power raised contracted power at its Muskie campus to 1 GW. TeraWulf expects the first 500 MW to begin ramping in 2028 and plans delivery of the second 500 MW in 2029. That later phase remains subject to Kentucky Public Service Commission approval and the utility's construction timetable.
TeraWulf chairman and chief executive Paul Prager said power availability is central to conversations with prospective Muskie customers. His description supplies an industry check on treating a power agreement as a tenant contract: TeraWulf names its utility and a conditional delivery schedule, yet its Oct. 5 release still gives no Muskie lease or rental amount. Applied Digital's Finnish announcement gives neither a named power counterparty nor a signed customer.
Mugglehead's earlier account of the Muskie amendment followed the advance of its second phase from 2030 to 2029, subject to state approval. Finland starts with a less detailed timetable and a separate 2028 target for initial availability.
Read more: TeraWulf doubles Muskie power agreement to 1 GW, plans 2029 delivery
Applied Digital's Oct. 7 results and 5 p.m. EDT call are the next dated chance for management to give a Finnish power counterparty, spending plan or customer timetable. The company's stated test for the campus itself remains the start of power availability in 2028.
