DataVita revises Lanarkshire AI datacentre plan to rely on the grid
DataVita has revised its plan for an artificial intelligence datacentre complex in Lanarkshire, near Glasgow, and now says the site will be "fully grid served", according to The Guardian. The company had previously promised the project would draw 1GW of power from green sources.
To be "grid served" means the buildings will take their electricity from the national grid, the network that carries power from generators to users. DataVita said solar and windfarms "could connect in the future" to the datacentres. It says the power it draws from the grid for the Lanarkshire site will be largely renewable.
The proposed development is in Chapelhall, a village outside Airdrie. DataVita was designated to build an "AI growth zone" there, a term for an area set aside for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The Guardian reported that the company was supposed to bring 3,400 jobs to Lanarkshire by building a 500MW datacentre, and that the complex is an £8.2bn project planned for completion by 2030.
The company's original approach was to run the complex entirely on renewable power generated on site. According to the Guardian, the UK government and developers had privately acknowledged a power provision "issue" at the Lanarkshire site.
Public money is also part of the picture. DataVita remains in receipt of £202m in wealth guarantees, a form of public backing, from Britain's National Wealth Fund.
The UK government has said its priority is connecting data centres to the grid, so they can benefit from the country's power sector as it cuts its carbon emissions, according to the BBC.
DataVita says it is investing in its own direct renewable energy source, which it expects to be operational within 24 to 26 months. The company's plans for the Lanarkshire site now rest on the grid connection, with the link to on-site or nearby renewable generation described as something that could follow.
