Data Centre Watch

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13 entries matching · showing 1–13

1. 20 Oct 2026 UK Burnley, Lancashire Pre-application

   A £12m data centre under a Burnley hotel — with almost no detail

   Plans would convert the upper and lower underground car parks and basement of The Brunlea Hotel on Keirby Walk, Burnley, into a £12m, 4,000 sq m data centre. The application is filed as a bare 'change of use': no transport, parking, air-quality, energy, carbon, drainage or noise assessments, and it is unclear who the operator would be or how much power it would draw. It is linked to the Burnley-based Real Big Group; a council cabinet member has formally objected, and the application will be decided later.

   Why it matters: A reminder of how little a planning application can contain for one of the most energy- and water-intensive forms of development.

   Source: BBC News / Local Democracy Reporting [C]

2. 13 Oct 2026 Updated 19 Oct World Maine, US 15 MW Pre-application

   A tidal-powered underwater data centre — and Maine says no

   A developer has asked FERC for a preliminary permit to study a 15MW data centre sunk off Eastport, Maine, powered and cooled by the region's huge tides. Eastport imposed a 180-day moratorium in August and residents have organised against it — though only a multi-year feasibility study is proposed so far. A legal challenge has now been launched, arguing the scheme would harm endangered whale habitat.

   Why it matters: 'Not in my backyard' still applies when the backyard is the seabed.

   Source: The Boston Globe [C]

   Changes (2)

   1. 19 Oct 2026 — Added the legal challenge over endangered whale habitat.
   2. 13 Oct 2026 — First filed.
3. 15 Oct 2026 Updated 17 Oct UK West Norfolk 1000 MW Pre-application

   1GW data centre and 1.3GW solar proposed for West Norfolk

   EPL Norfolk Ltd has unveiled 'Longmarsh Green Energy': up to 1.3GW of solar and battery storage paired with a 1GW data-centre campus across two West Norfolk sites, near Tilney St Lawrence and Fincham/Barton Bendish, connecting to the Walpole substation from 2031. The combined solar sites cover about 4,695 acres (1,900ha). Its scale makes it a nationally significant infrastructure project, so the decision rests with the government rather than the council; consultation runs to 26 November, an application is due by April 2027, a decision by July 2028 and operation by 2032. The company claims around £25bn of investment, thousands of construction jobs and more than 500 operational roles; the borough council leader questions the site's proximity to RAF Marham (solar dazzle) and nearby nature sites.

   Why it matters: The 'solar farm + data centre' model arriving in the Fens — powering the compute with what's grown on the land.

   Source: Lynn News / BBC [C]

   Changes (2)

   1. 17 Oct 2026 — Added the NSIP route and timeline (app April 2027, decision July 2028, live 2032), the 4,695-acre solar footprint, ~500 operational roles and the council leader's RAF Marham/nature concerns.
   2. 15 Oct 2026 — First filed.
4. 15 Oct 2026 World United States Pre-application

   Floating AI data centres planned for the US Gulf Coast

   Riverway Group and Offshore Data Center have partnered to design and build offshore data-centre platforms along the US Gulf Coast, converting stranded and undervalued natural gas into power for computing co-located at the fuel reserves. The designs range up to 1GW for large-scale AI training, with smaller edge/inference configurations.

   Why it matters: When the gas is stranded and the grid is late, the data centre goes to the fuel — compute on the water.

   Source: Data Center Intelligence [C]

5. 14 Oct 2026 World Japan Pre-application

   NYK consortium floats a port-based data centre concept

   Japanese shipping group NYK, with NTT Facilities, Eurus Energy and MUFG Bank, has developed a concept for data centres moored alongside quays in ports — running on local generation and offshore wind — pitched as a way around land, electricity-supply and construction-time constraints.

   Why it matters: As land and power run short on shore, the search for somewhere to put the compute heads onto the water.

   Source: NYK Line / Smart Maritime Network [C]

6. 27 Sep 2026 Updated 13 Oct UK North Devon 1500 MW Pre-application

   North Devon revolt over a 1.5GW campus in a UNESCO biosphere

   Xlinks has secured ~850 acres for a 1.5GW AI campus plus a 1.8GW battery in the North Devon biosphere — five buildings up to 40m high and ~96 acres of lithium-ion batteries. The North Devon Data Centre campaign has now launched, backing a national petition for a moratorium on data centres outside designated growth zones. FOI documents obtained by CPRE Devon show Xlinks has applied for AI Growth Zone designation — for up to 5GW of data centres — and that Torridge District Council is being pressed to write the Torrington site into its emerging Local Plan.

   Why it matters: The datacentre revolt arriving in a protected landscape — the same fight, a different field.

   Source: The Guardian [V]

   Changes (2)

   1. 13 Oct 2026 — Added the AI Growth Zone bid (up to 5GW) revealed by FOI, and the Local Plan allocation being weighed by Torridge.
   2. 27 Sep 2026 — First filed.
7. 7 Oct 2026 Updated 13 Oct UK North Yorkshire 100 MW Pre-application

   Drax's AI Growth Zone bid rejected — but the 100MW scheme continues

   The government dropped the Drax / University of York bid for an AI Growth Zone, removing a route to national support. Drax says its separate first-phase ~100MW data centre is still being prepared for submission. New analysis estimates the plant would emit more CO₂ a year than all flights from Gatwick Airport.

   Why it matters: Losing a Growth Zone bid isn't a planning refusal — but it strips a signal investors watch.

   Source: Planning Geek / Land & Climate Review [C]

   Changes (2)

   1. 13 Oct 2026 — Added the emissions finding: the planned data centre would emit more CO₂ a year than all flights from Gatwick.
   2. 7 Oct 2026 — First filed.
8. 12 Oct 2026 World Ontario, Canada 320 MW Pre-application

   C$3.5bn, 320MW AI campus proposed where the town has halted data centres

   BUZZ High Performance Computing proposes a C$3.5bn / 320MW campus in Oakville, Ontario — privately funding the connection, transformers, grid works and fibre — but Oakville has a one-year moratorium on data centres running to August 2027, which it may extend to two, against the company's H2 2027 target.

   Why it matters: A scheme announced into a place that has just said 'not while we think' — the same collision as here.

   Source: Compute Forecast [C]

9. 11 Oct 2026 UK North Lanarkshire, Scotland 1000 MW Pre-application

   Lanarkshire AI growth zone questioned over land and jobs

   Residents near Newarthill and Airdrie are questioning the promised benefits of the CoreWeave/DataVita zone: 1GW needs ~44 km² of nearby land by conservative estimates, but current holdings appear to be under a tenth of that, and Action to Protect Rural Scotland says the 3,400-job figure could be 'a hundred times' too high.

   Why it matters: The gap between headline jobs/land claims and what is actually secured — the campaign's recurring question.

   Source: DailySynapse [C]

10. 11 Oct 2026 World Navi Mumbai, India 240 MW Pre-application

    CoreWeave enters India with a 240MW Navi Mumbai campus

    CoreWeave will be sole tenant across three 80MW buildings at AdaniConneX's Taloja campus near Navi Mumbai — its first India site, with room to double to 480MW and NVIDIA Vera Rubin in liquid-cooled halls from mid-2028.

    Why it matters: AI compute spreading into new power and water systems — the same build, a different grid.

    Source: Data Centre Magazine [C]

11. 8 Oct 2026 UK Hampshire Pre-application

    Fawley Waterside: a 1.5M sq ft campus with data centres on a former power station

    On the former Fawley Power Station site near Southampton, Fawley Waterside is proposing a 1.5M sq ft industrial and commercial campus combining energy, digital, maritime and commercial uses — with data centres and advanced computing among the potential digital occupants.

    Why it matters: Another retired power station pitched as a home for compute — the land-and-grid logic, again.

    Source: Bisnow [C]

12. 4 Oct 2026 UK Greenwich, London Pre-application

    Data centre vies with 8,000 homes at Charlton Riverside

    Greenwich Council opposes a 180MW data-centre campus on the former Stone Foundries site — land zoned for housing — before an application is even submitted. Promoted by GLI (Patrizia + Kingston Space); the government says data centres use just 0.2% of England's non-household water, while Water UK says it needs authorisation to invest ahead of demand.

    Why it matters: The same land can't be both homes and data halls — and the water arithmetic is being fought over in public.

    Source: BBC News [V]

13. 30 Sep 2026 UK Cheshire East Pre-application

    60-hectare Cheshire campus sparks local concern

    Innova's 'Spodegreen' campus near Little Bollington (on Tatton Estate land) has not yet been submitted, but residents are worried about homes, businesses and wildlife — and the National Trust is reviewing it near Dunham Massey.

    Why it matters: The pattern reaching the countryside: farmland, a stately estate, and a pre-application charm offensive.

    Source: BBC News [C]