DataVita Drops Renewable Power Pledge for Lanarkshire AI Datacentre, Confirms Project Will Run Entirely on National Grid

Glasgow: DataVita, the datacentre company behind a flagship artificial intelligence development near Glasgow, has admitted that the project will be powered entirely by the National Grid, abandoning its earlier promise to supply the scheme with dedicated renewable energy.

The company, regarded as a key pillar of the United Kingdom’s AI strategy, had pledged that its Lanarkshire project would draw 1GW of power from green sources, an amount equivalent to the output of a small nuclear reactor or Britain’s largest windfarm. When questions were raised about the commitment, DataVita said the arrangement remained subject to final commercial agreements, planning, grid connection and consenting processes.

The company has since quietly revised its plans. It now states that the datacentres will be “fully grid served,” while solar and wind farms could potentially be connected at a later stage. DataVita maintains that the electricity it draws from the grid will be largely renewable.

DataVita, which says its proposals would transform the economy of Chapelhall, a village outside Airdrie, continues to benefit from £202 million in public support in the form of guarantees from Britain’s National Wealth Fund. The company had been expected to create 3,400 jobs in Lanarkshire through the construction of a 500MW datacentre.

Although the change may have been inevitable given doubts over the feasibility of the original renewables claim, it could pose difficulties both for the company and for Britain’s wider AI ambitions.

Under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the government’s AI strategy centred on building large-scale datacentres across designated zones nationwide. Developers were to receive incentives, potentially including discounted energy and fast-tracked planning approvals. DataVita’s project was intended to anchor one of these flagship “AI growth zones” in Lanarkshire.

The strategy, however, began to falter just over a year after its launch, when investigations revealed that many of the announced plans had little substance behind them.

AI datacentres rank among the most energy-intensive facilities ever built, and Britain’s energy costs are higher than those of most European countries. Developers also face waiting times of several years to secure connections to the national grid.

Two major AI investments announced with considerable fanfare by the Starmer government are already on uncertain footing amid concerns over their ability to secure adequate power or meet the high energy costs required to deliver their ambitions. DataVita’s retreat from its renewable energy pledge now adds to growing questions over the viability of the UK’s AI infrastructure drive.