France's Sesterce plans $11 billion AI investment in Finland

OSLO, Oct 8 (Reuters) - French AI infrastructure group Sesterce said on Thursday it plans to develop a data centre site in Finland costing more than €10 billion ($11.21 billion), the latest in a series of foreign technology investments in the Nordic country.

• The first phase, with works planned to start in 2026, will have a capacity of 200 megawatt (MW), Sesterce said in a statement

• Capacity is expected to increase to 600 MW in the second phase

• The company said it already has an anchor customer for the project, which will be built in Jamsa in central Finland at the site of a former paper mill that closed in 2021

• Over the longer term, Sesterce aims to build more than 1 gigawatt of AI capacity in Finland, on existing industrial sites and in line with market demand, it said

($1 = 0.8925 euros)

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Louise Rasmussen)