DataVita, a developer highlighted in the United Kingdom’s AI growth plan, announced that its planned AI datacentre complex near Glasgow will draw all of its electricity from the National Grid. The revision follows earlier statements that the site would be powered by renewable sources, a claim now qualified as a future possibility rather than a current certainty.
When the project was first outlined, the firm promised a 1 GW draw from green generation, a capacity comparable to a small nuclear reactor or the country’s largest windfarm. At that time, the company noted that the supply would depend on final commercial agreements, planning permissions, grid connections and other consenting steps, leaving the renewable pledge provisional.
The updated description says the datacentres will be “fully grid served” with the option that solar and wind farms could be added later. DataVita maintains that the electricity supplied by the grid will be largely renewable, and it continues to receive £202 million in wealth guarantees from Britain’s national wealth fund to support the development.
The shift occurs against the backdrop of the UK’s AI strategy under former prime minister Keir Starmer, which aimed to create AI growth zones across the country and offered incentives such as energy discounts and accelerated planning. DataVita was earmarked as a flagship project for Lanarkshire, but the broader strategy has been questioned after investigative reporting highlighted weak foundations for several announced initiatives.
AI datacentres rank among the most power-hungry facilities worldwide, and the United Kingdom’s energy costs exceed those of most European neighbours. DataVita had projected 3,400 jobs from a 500 MW installation and hinted at a future wind and solar park in North Lanarkshire. Kat Jones, director of the charity Action to Protect Rural Scotland, described the company’s change of direction as “emblematic of the hyperbolic claims being made by datacentre developers in Scotland”.