DEVELOPERS of a hyperscale AI data centre near Glasgow have admitted it will fully rely on the National Grid despite previously claiming the facility would be powered by renewable energy.
The National revealed in September that DataVita submitted proposals for a 120MW “green data centre” in Chapelhall, North Lanarkshire, south of the junction between Lancaster Avenue and Bellside Road.
Developers originally claimed the AI facility would draw up to 1GW directly from dedicated green energy sources including wind, solar, and battery storage, which would be “delivered through private wire connections directly linked to the data centre”.
However, DataVita has since U-turned on its previous announcement, as it told The Guardian its complex will instead rely entirely on the National Grid.
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A DataVita spokesperson told the newspaper it had not misrepresented its intention to supply renewables to the site earlier this year, claiming their “commitment to renewable energy is unchanged”.
The spokesperson added: “Our datacentres are being designed to be grid served … Our grid supply will be through a renewable power purchase agreement.”
Kat Jones, the director of Action to Protect Rural Scotland, said DataVita’s change in power plans was “emblematic of the hyperbolic claims being made by data centre developers in Scotland”.
She said: “Hyperscale AI datacentres simply cannot run on renewable power alone, they absolutely need a highly reliable source of grid power.”
Adding: “It is not surprising that the goalposts have now changed.”
It comes after it was revealed in September there had been fears from locals and campaign groups over DataVita’s backup engine plans for the North Lanarkshire site.
The generators would expand the site’s power capacity when peak customer demand coincided with air temperatures above 21C. Up to 32 of the total 48 generators could start operating in “load support mode” to help cool computing equipment, planning documents show.
Jen Thompson, who lives 50m from the proposed site, said the potential air pollution and noise were a “massive worry” for her four children.
At the time, the Scottish Greens called for a definition of a “green data centre” to “exclude the use of polluting diesel generators”.
DataVita already runs another data centre in Chapelhall – the DV1 site – which, at a capacity of 24MW, makes it the largest data centre in Scotland currently in operation.
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The DV1 data centre provides server networks to nearby businesses, with expansion work planned to increase its capacity to around 40MW.
The new site, which is called DV4, is classed as a "hyperscale" data centre due to the large number of megawatts required to run it.
The latest plans would fall inside Scotland's first AI Growth Zone, which was announced would be in Lanarkshire earlier this year.
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