Nebius to open Baltic region’s first AI factory in Estonia

Dutch cloud company Nebius will open the Baltic region’s first artificial intelligence factory at Greenergy Data Centers’ data centre in Hüüru, Estonia, with the first 22-megawatt phase expected to begin operating this year, ERR reported.

The facility will be the largest AI factory in the Baltic region. Nebius announced on Wednesday that it had signed contracts during the second quarter to expand its AI infrastructure network in Europe.

Nebius communications chief Tom Blackwell said Estonia was a natural choice because of its engineers, digital economy, start-up culture and plans for artificial intelligence and the transition to clean energy.

“Nebius’ Tallinn AI factory, built in cooperation with Greenergy Data Centers, will provide advanced infrastructure to support Estonia’s growing innovation ecosystem and help accelerate the development and adoption of artificial intelligence,” Blackwell said.

Nebius is also building large-scale AI factories in Lappeenranta, Finland, and Béthune, France. It already operates a centre in Mäntsälä, Finland, and has AI infrastructure projects in the United Kingdom, Spain and Iceland. Its major customers include Microsoft and Meta.

Greenergy Data Centers chief executive Kert Evert said Nebius’ decision to choose the company showed that Estonia was becoming a competitive destination for large-scale AI infrastructure projects.

Blackwell said Nebius wanted to work closely with the Estonian government, businesses and universities to develop AI skills, expand access to AI capabilities and strengthen Estonia’s position as a leading AI innovation centre.

Martin Salo, co-founder of Tensor Estate, a group of Estonian entrepreneurs that became a shareholder in Greenergy Data Centers last month, said the project was the first phase of a larger development.

“The arrival of the Baltic region’s first AI factory means that Estonia is joining the group of countries where the world’s leading AI companies are building their infrastructure,” Salo said.

He said large AI factories in Northern Europe had so far been concentrated mainly in Finland, Sweden and Norway because of favourable electricity prices, renewable energy and a suitable climate. Salo expects the project to help make Estonia an international AI infrastructure hub in the coming years.

Greenergy Data Centers customer segment chief Martin Rungi told ERR last month that attracting one international major customer to Estonia would make it considerably easier for data centres to find additional clients, as the market develops after its first breakthrough.

Nebius was formed after its former parent company, Yandex, came under sanctions following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In 2024, the company sold its Russian business units and took the name Nebius Group, headquartered in the Netherlands.

Nebius chief executive Arkady Volozh is one of Yandex’s founders but has since renounced his Russian citizenship. A Greenergy representative said last month that linking Nebius to Russia was inappropriate, noting that the company had won the trust of Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, the US government and the New York Stock Exchange despite its former connection to Russia.