The wind generators to be built in Hamina, in connection with the server hall to be set up by Google in the disused Summa paper mill building, are to get EUR 5 million in state support. The four three-megawatt wind power generators will be built next door to the new Google server centre.
The finance committee of the Finnish government gave its approval on Wednesday to the energy subsidy for the project by the local electric utility Hamina Energia. Without the subsidy, the wind power project would not be economically feasible. The state support would be 30 per cent of the EUR 17 million cost.
The wind generators to go up in Hamina are to be built by WinWinD, which is also building a new wind generator factory in Hamina.
The server centre, which is to be set up by Google at the Summa paper mill, which has been left vacant by the departure of paper manufacturing activities by Stora Enso, would use an amount of energy that is equivalent to that of a fairly large town. Large amounts of electric power are needed to cool the numerous computers.
Google’s Finnish importer Petri Kokko has said that time will tell what kind of a role wind power will have in meeting the energy requirements of the server centre.
