QTS is planning to develop a ten-building gigawatt-scale data center campus in the north of England.
As reported by ChronicleLive, QTS has filed an application outlining its plans for a former power station site in Blyth, UK.
News that Blackstone would be acquiring the site in Cambois, Northumberland, surfaced in April. The company at the time said it would use the land to host a new data center campus operated by QTS.
At the time the scope of the planned campus wasn’t shared. However, the companies – alongside Renaissance Land Limited – have now filed an application for the project with Northumberland County Council, outlining the size of the campus.
Up to 10 data center buildings are planned on the 100-hectare campus, totaling up to 540,000 sqm (5.8 million sq ft) and 1.1GW. Each building is set to span 54,000 sqm (581,250 sq ft) across three stories and offer 72MW. The site will use waterless free-cooling chillers. An on-site substation would be built.
Documents suggest the campus is known as Project Wind. Construction could start as soon as next year.
Britishvolt previously planned to build a £3.8 billion ($4.7bn) car battery factory on the site, known as the Northumberland Energy Park (NEP3). However, the company fell into administration last year and plans collapsed, along with Britishvolt’s promise to create 3,000 jobs in the region.
The land was formerly the coal yards of the old Blyth Power Station, which closed in 2001 after 50 years and was subsequently demolished in 2003.
This will be QTS' first campus in the UK. The company currently operates one European campus in Groningen, the Netherlands.
Blackstone acquired QTS in 2021 for $10bn, and last July committed to spend another $8bn on data centers due to a “once in a generation” AI boom.