HELSINKI - Google said on Wednesday it would spend 160 million euros ($200 million) on building a new data centre at the site of an old paper mill in southeastern Finland.

We are looking at employing around 200 people in the building phase and about 50 people when it is up and running, Google Finland Country Manager Petri Kokko said. We hope to have (the centre) at testing level by the first half of 2010.

Google said last month it would buy the mill from papermaker Stora Enso for 40 million euros and set up a data centre, or so-called server farm, there. Around the world Google has dozens of such centres, which consume significant amounts of energy.

In early 2008 Stora Enso closed down the loss-making Summa mill, which consumed 1,000 gigawatt hours of electricity per year, after nearly 53 years in operation.

The oldest parts of the mill were designed by renowned Finnish architect Alvar Aalto.

Stora Enso and Google have agreed that part of the mill site will be transferred to the city of Hamina for other industrial uses. ($1=.7977 euros) (Reporting by Brett Young; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

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