Major milestone reached in £10billion AI data centre scheme in Northumberland

American firm QTS has put forward outline plans to develop up to 10 data centre buildings on land near Cambois. They would cover a total of up to 540,000 square metres.

Northumberland County Council says the facilities would be “state of the art”, and represent an inward investment of up to £10billion – one of the largest ever seen in the UK. The data centre is expected to employ around 400 highly skilled staff once completed.

It will also create 1,200 “long-term” construction jobs during the building phase, which is expected to last several years.

Northumberland County Council leader Glen Sanderson said: “I welcome this latest step in the development of what will be one of western Europe’s largest Artificial Intelligence data hub at Cambois.

“Subject to it meeting all the requirements of the planning committee, this scheme is a multi-billion pound vote of confidence in Northumberland’s future.”

As part of the deal to purchase the site – previously earmarked for an electric vehicle battery gigafactory – the council will receive £110million that has been earmarked to bring more than 5,000 jobs to the county.

The money will be paid to the council as various milestones on the development are met, with an initial £30million expected next year.

QTS is the data subsidiary of US investment firm Blackstone, which manages assets worth more than $1trillion. The data centre will provide the computing power needed to power new artificial intelligence technology.

Speaking on the submission of the application, a spokeswoman for QTS said: “We are pleased to have reached this important milestone in our plans to deliver a cutting-edge data centre campus in Cambois.

“We look forward to continuing to work closely with the council, the local community and local stakeholders to progress this exciting project.”

The plans are currently available online and can be viewed via the council’s planning portal (reference 24/04112/OUTES) where residents can also submit comments. The application will then be considered by the county council’s strategic planning committee in the new year.