Published 2026-09-12 · Event 2026-08-11

Fira says Lappeenranta main construction began in July 2026; 310 MW is still a completed-campus figure

On 11 August 2026 Finnish contractor Fira said it had begun construction of Nebius’s Pajarila campus in Lappeenranta. Earthworks started in spring 2026, main works in July 2026, and the first building is expected in the first half of 2027. Approximately 310 megawatts is the contractor’s wording for total power capacity once the entire campus is completed. That is not an energised first hall and not a Swedish megawatt.

Fira’s 11 August 2026 notice is the dated contractor source used here. It says Fira has begun construction of a large-scale data-center campus in Lappeenranta developed by Nebius. The site is the Pajarila industrial area, south of Highway 6, across approximately 41 hectares. Fira is responsible for constructing the first-phase data center. Those are role and geography sentences. They are not a Finnish grid agreement and not a Swedish land option.

The schedule band is a contractor target. Site preparation and earthworks began in the spring of 2026. Main construction activities commenced in July 2026. The first data-center building is expected to be completed during the first half of 2027. The first phase is scheduled for completion in 2027. Expected and scheduled are not commissioning certificates. This note does not treat a later 2027 opening as documented.

Capacity wording differs from the 31 March 2026 Nebius notice already stored on its own row. Nebius said a new AI factory with capacity of up to 310 MW. Fira says that once the entire campus is completed, its total power capacity will reach approximately 310 megawatts. Up to and approximately, factory capacity and total power capacity, are not the same phrase. This register records the split. It does not convert either sentence into occupied IT load.

Employment figures of up to 700 people during construction are Fira estimates. They are not a megawatt definition. The 41-hectare sentence sits beside Nebius’s separate “ca. 100-acre” wording on 31 March. This article does not reconcile the two area units into a new measurement.

DataCenterSweden records 11 August 2026 as a Finnish construction-progress notice for Pajarila. No Swedish project identifier is attached. The March announcement and this contractor update stay on separate rows. The next update would need a later primary source that names an energization, a heat offtaker or a first-building handover — not another 310 MW headline.

Why it matters

A contractor start can look like a live campus. The August notice is usable only if July 2026 is earth-and-steel progress and 310 MW stays a completed-campus phrase — not a Swedish spare-power cell.

What remains unknown

Fira does not publish a Finnish connection agreement, an occupied-load reading, a heat buyer or a Swedish site.

Sources