back to article Off the grid, Day 10: Yandex's only datacenter outside of Russia still running on diesel

Finnish energy supplier Ilmatar says it has terminated a supplier agreement to provide electricity to Yandex's datacenter in the southern part of the country, as the facility enters its second week of relying on diesel generators. There has been no grid power to the DC since 25 April. Yandex told us: "Our datacenter has been …

  1. wolfetone Silver badge
    Joke

    Now Yandex are sucking on diesel boy, and there's only one thing they're interested in: bent search results*

    *Line of Duty references there, in stereo, sort of

  2. fidodogbreath

    So when Yandex runs out of diesel it's Finnished.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      People are really Russan to make puns.

    2. Little Mouse

      All puns aside - we've seen in the UK that it's not particularly hard to choke the supply of diesel, intentionally or not.

      Perhaps Extinction Rebellion and their kind could unglue themselves from UK tarmac and make themselves useful in Finland?

      1. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge
        Trollface

        Aha! Seems you've actually found a valid use for those idiots! Well done. I didn't think it possible.

        1. TeeCee Gold badge
          Happy

          Yup. Even if the Russians stick to form and just drive tankers over the buggers, we still win.

          There is no downside.

      2. MBrunberg

        As a finnish person I say, please NO MORE. We already have a bunch of them ERdiots here, and while they arguably might have the merest thought of a point in what they are trying to achieve, the methods they go about it are utterly misguided and annoying. I wouldn't mind if the ones infesting downtown Helsinki today [1] were to be teleported to the outskirts Mäntsälä to annoy Yandex instead.

        As for the whole Yandex thing, they never should've been allowed here to begin with. Finland should not be an international gateway for that whole propaganda machinery.

        [1] https://yle.fi/news/3-12433624

        PS. This is my first post ever in the Reg forums. Strange, as I've relied on it for my international IT news since the mid/late 90's.

        1. Lars Silver badge
          Coat

          @MBrunberg

          In the link you provided is mentioned that an estimated 22,000 Ukrainians have applied for temporary protection status in Finland.

          That is 4000 per I million inhabitants, how successfull has Priti and Boris been, 67 * 4000 would make for 268.000 Ukrainians in Britain.

          1. First Light

            27,300 already in Irish Republic as of yesterday. That would be 5,460 per million. Or 365,820 in the UK.

            https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/oireachtas/more-than-27-300-ukrainians-have-arrived-in-ireland-to-date-says-minister-1.4870504

            1. Lars Silver badge
              Thumb Up

              @First Light

              Well done Ireland, not surprised, and we all know Boris is doing his best.

              But we should, of course, not be too vocal considering what is done in neighbouring countries to Ukraine.

        2. First Light

          Congrats and welcome to the comments section!

          The XR people that I know are basically quite "bougie". Trying to block the Tube in London a few years ago was tone-deaf and stupid, which they had to acknowledge later. You WANT people to use public transportation! What are they supposed to do, walk?

  3. Blackjack Silver badge

    Doesn't the USA still use some coal power plants despite being expensive? Or are they finally gone for good? Also a lot of farming still uses diesel.

    1. First Light

      There was a US coal mine slated for closure, only to be resurrected by cryptoidiots.

      https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/feb/18/bitcoin-miners-revive-fossil-fuel-plant-co2-emissions-soared

  4. MacroRodent
    Holmes

    Strike not connected

    The strike at Nivos is a part of a wider industrial action of ICT staff in Finland, that has reduced service in several companies. So not connected to Yandex in any way.

  5. ilmari

    In local news, Yandex says Ilmatar started providing energy from First of January, but canceled the contract "on a technicality shortly after". Yandex says it offered to pay higher rates for the contract to continue.

    The energy sellers they've contacted have given "formal excuses" for being unable to sell energy.

    As a local it amazes me that there wouldn't be even a single supplier willing to take a PR hit in exchange for a large electricity sales contract. There would be concerns about payment, even in best of times russian companies have a reputation of being tardy at paying bills. The local energy distributor Nivos did comment that Yandex has always been punctual when paying their bills, and Yandex itself said they've opened up their books to potential energy sellers to give assurance of their financial stability and ability to pay electricity bills in the future too.

    The detail that their previous PPA was canceled "shortly after" makes me wonder if they meant before the war, which would make the whole event more interesting. From the point of view of a seller wanting to make a quick buck, they could offer hourly market price plus a margin, putting most of the risk on Yandex. The DC power consumption should be extremely predictable, making it financially a very risk free sale.

    I think there's something more going on than a spontaneous boycott of Yandex by energy firms.

  6. Peter2 Silver badge

    The reason for the deal's termination was not clear

    I take it that you think it's got nothing to do with heavy handed threats from Russia against Finland then?

  7. SusiW

    We need to send some of the ER and IB dolts who enjoy blocking UK fuel distribution points over there to block fuel supplies.

    That way they can still feel good about themselves and upset the Russian propaganda mill.

    Oh wait though, that would actually mean they were 'making a difference' instead of being a nuisance.

    As you were.

    1. Jimmy2Cows Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Even idiots are sometimes useful. But travelling that far would - the horror! - burn fuel, so they'd have an excuse to chicken out, and remain simply idiots.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Both of you clearly don't have a dog in the fight - you'll be long dead before the damage your generation has caused the planet has a major impact.

        ER exists to get people to realise that climate change won't be averted unless people change their lifestyles en masse. As you and many others have demonstrated, you're not prepared to do that. For anyone. Even your own families.

        1. StudeJeff

          I'm not prepared to change my my lifestyle to "avert climate change" because I'm very aware of three facts.

          1. The climate has been changing as long as there has been a climate, which is from LONG before we were around. If you get a chance there is an American national park, a forest that was killed by climate change. The trees were tall and beautiful, the climate warm and moist. Then the climate changed, the trees died, and what had been a warm, wet place turned into a desert.

          This happened before the great dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the place is called Petrified Forest National Park.

          2. Nothing I do, or for that matter the people of the United States (or UK), do, will make a bit of difference.

          3. Most of the people pushing for this the hardest are the same people who want more and more control over our lives. This battle isn't about he climate, it's about CONTROL.

          So no, I'm not giving up my gas powered car, my air conditioning, or anything else to please those entitled jerks nor terrorist groups like ER, Earth First, or any of those other twits.

  8. Danny 2

    Blocking fuel supplies

    A lot of hate for Extinction Rebellion here...oh well.

    In reality the tactic of blocking the five UK oil refineries was invented by fairly right-wing farmers and truckers protesting a fuel duty increase. It worked, near instant government u-turn, mainly because the police didn't want to mess with fairly right-wing farmers and truckers. Unlike their brutality in the miner's strike.

    Today, we'll sit here drinking coffee in your incident room

    Tonight, you'll close the door and lock me in that bare bulb gloom

    Love, it ain't something riding on a motorbike

    And love, I stopped loving you since the miners' strike

    Got no flowers for your gun

    No hippychick

    Won't make love to change your mind

    No hippychick ~Soho

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Yandex News is the key element in hiding information"

    If "key element in hiding information from Russians" is the reason for EU sanctions, when can we expect the sanctions on most of the British media, including the BBC?

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