The company behind a planned AI growth zone at Chapelhall now says the site will draw power from the National Grid, with wind and solar only a possible future connection, the Guardian reports.
DataVita, the datacentre developer behind a planned AI growth zone at Chapelhall near Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, has acknowledged that the project will be served entirely by the National Grid, according to a Guardian report published on 7 November. The company had earlier promised that the development would draw 1GW from renewable sources. When the Guardian asked about that pledge, DataVita said the arrangement was subject to final commercial agreements, planning, grid and consenting processes. It now describes the datacentres as "fully grid served", with solar and wind farms that "could connect in the future". The company says the grid power will be largely renewable and that it still holds £202m in guarantees from Britain's National Wealth Fund.
An earlier DataVita announcement had said that more than 1GW of renewable capacity, including wind, solar and battery storage, would be delivered through private wire connections directly linked to the datacentres. The Guardian says the new wording appears to contradict that statement. DataVita told the newspaper it had not misrepresented its intentions and that its commitment to renewable energy is unchanged, adding that supply will come through a renewable power purchase agreement and leaving open a future link to a wind and solar park it proposes to build in North Lanarkshire. The project was billed as a 500MW datacentre expected to bring 3,400 jobs to the area.
The Guardian places the change in the wider context of the UK's AI strategy, which centred on building large datacentres in designated zones backed by incentives such as possible energy discounts and faster planning approvals. The newspaper notes that AI datacentres are among the most energy-intensive buildings ever constructed, that British electricity costs are higher than in most of Europe, and that developers face years-long waits to connect to the grid. It reports that two other major UK AI investments are also under question over how they will be powered or pay for energy. Kat Jones, director of the charity Action to Protect Rural Scotland, told the paper that hyperscale AI datacentres cannot run on renewable power alone and need a highly reliable grid supply, and called the change of direction emblematic of exaggerated claims by developers.
