Teesside tapped for AI growth zone
Following the government’s invitation for bids to host one of the five planned zones, Teesworks has submitted an application for a 5m sq ft data centre on the former steel site.
An application for a data centre campus, office accommodation, a substation, battery stores, new access arrangements, car and cycle parking, landscaping, infrastructure and associated works was submitted to Middlesbrough Council in June, although no accompanying documents have been uploaded to the portal.
The Teesworks freeport outside Middlesbrough would be the country’s second dedicated AI growth zone, with one already planned for Culham in Oxfordshire, which is home to the UK’s Atomic Energy Authority.
Teesworks is a public-private partnership formed by JC Musgrave Capital, Northern Land Management, Tees Valley Combined Authority, and South Tees Development Corporation.
The partnership is regenerating 4,500 acres of brownfield land into an industrial zone, with Mayor Ben Houchen vocalising his desire for the North East to be home to one of the five AI growth zones back in February.
He said: “Teesside, Darlington, and Hartlepool have always been at the forefront of cutting-edge technology – from the friction match to the railways and the chemical industry.
“My job above everything is to bring good, well-paid, long-term jobs to local people. We have everything we need to host an AI growth zone in our region.
“We have the land, we have the power and we have shown in our efforts at Teesworks how we can get huge projects moving forward at pace.”
However, plans for an energy-guzzling data centre may clash with those for BP’s proposed HyGreen facility, a blue hydrogen and carbon capture plant that is also looking to set up camp at Teesworks, as the amount of power necessary to fuel mega data centres is at odds with the government’s green agenda.
A decision on whether that will go-ahead is expected to be decided next month by energy secretary Ed Miliband.
It has been calculated that the UK needs an extra 6GW of data centre capacity by 2030 to be at the forefront of AI capability, a three-fold increase in today’s levels.
Other bids have come from York and North Yorkshire, where the combined authority has nominated the former Drax power station as a potential site, and Doncaster has also been put forward by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.
Details about the application are scant, but can be found on Middlesbrough’s planning portal with the reference 25/0319/RCON.
