DataVita, Scotland’s largest independent data centre developer and operator, has secured  £300m of funding to expand and build two data centres in the North Lanarkshire’s AI Growth Zone.

The consortium fundraising has been underwritten by a £202m financial guarantee from the National Wealth Fund, a state-owned backer. The project has both UK and Scottish Government support.

The expansion comes as green campaigners, Friends of the Earth, continue to raise serious concerns about several other AI data centres being planned across Scotland. These centres will use massive amounts of energy to cool the computing power required to meet the exponential expansion of AI. The campaigners want to ensure that AI infrastructure is located away from homes, schools and hospitals because of potential environmental impacts.

DataVita has been part of Scotland’s digital infrastructure and data centres for more than ten years and deliver AI infrastructure, utilising low carbon electricity, sovereign cloud and connectivity through to the AI platforms its customers run. 

Its customers include central government, local authorities and universities, which rely on DataVita to keep critical national workloads on sovereign UK infrastructure.

Danny Quinn, managing director at DataVita, said: “There is plenty of talk about AI infrastructure just now. This project is being delivered: work is well advanced on site, every megawatt is contracted, and the first facility completes this year.”

He said DataVita delivers end-to-end AI infrastructure from the energy that powers it through to the applications that run on it. 

“We have been doing this in Scotland for more than ten years. The UK needs its own AI capability, built here and run here, and we are grateful to the National Wealth Fund and our lenders for backing a project that is already delivering it.”

 He added: “This type of investment in Scotland’s data centre infrastructure would have been unthinkable just two or three years ago. That is the impact AI is having. Scotland has all the right ingredients to take advantage of the AI revolution and make it a core part of its economy.”

A SYNDICATE OF INVESTORS

A syndicate of lenders including ING (acting as adviser and coordinator), ABN AMRO, Santander (acting as agent), the Scottish National Investment Bank, Siemens Financial Services through Siemens Bank have been involved. The National Wealth Fund’s guarantee is provided against the £252.5m of lending delivered by ING, ABN AMRO and Santander equating to 80 per cent of this tranche. The remaining portion provided by SNIB and Siemens Financial Services is uncovered.

 The investment will expand DataVita’s existing DV1 data centre and fund the construction of a new data centre, DV3. The capacity of both is contracted to AI cloud firm CoreWeave, the infrastructure provider to many of the world’s leading AI labs, under a 15-year lease agreement.

DataVita says it is committed to operational efficiency, combined with Scotland’s low-carbon electricity mix, naturally cool climate and the use of closed-loop cooling, which will help improve the resource efficiency of the development as demand for AI infrastructure continues to grow.

 This development of DV1 and DV3 will act as the first step in a larger planned data centre campus in the area, helping to establish North Lanarkshire as a key location for AI infrastructure in the UK. The two developments are expected to create around 600 jobs during construction as well as around 100 permanent high-skilled jobs once completed.

This project marks the National Wealth Fund’s first support for domestic compute capacity and supports both the Government’s Compute Roadmap and Scotland’s five‑year AI strategy, which aims to grow the UK’s AI computing capacity through AI Growth Zones.

The UK Government estimates that AI could be worth up to £47bn a year to the UK economy over the next decade. However, there is increasing resistance to massive data centre cited in urban areas and near to populations.

 UK AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said: “AI is already helping scientists discover new medicines, supporting better public services and helping businesses get more done. The countries that build the infrastructure behind this technology will be the ones that attract investment, create jobs and help shape the industries of the future.

“That’s why this announcements matter. They will help ensure Scotland is at the forefront of one of the biggest economic opportunities of our time, bringing investment, reindustrialisation and opportunities to communities like Lanarkshire. For local people, that means more than new buildings and technology. It means the chance to develop new skills, access new careers and benefit from the growth and investment that AI can bring.”

The Scottish Government’s Economy Secretary Stephen Flynn said: “This investment marks a milestone in the creation of Scotland’s first AI Growth Zone in North Lanarkshire. I welcome the economic growth it is set to deliver across the region – including more than 3,400 new jobs and private investment totalling more than £8 billion.

“The Scottish Government’s AI Strategy sets out a clear plan to harness the economic and social benefits of AI to help ensure we translate our innovation and expertise into more businesses, jobs and investment. We will continue to work closely with DataVita and Growth Zone partners to realise the full economic and employment opportunities of this investment over the coming years.”

Oliver Holbourn, National Wealth Fund CEO, said: “New compute capacity is key to unlocking the UK’s future, yet private finance can be difficult to secure for emerging infrastructure at this scale. The National Wealth Fund’s guarantee is helping address that gap, giving lenders the confidence to invest. By laying the foundation for the wider Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone, we are helping support innovation and local economic opportunity, while delivering critical compute capacity for the UK’s sovereign AI ambitions.” 

UK Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “This investment, and Dell’s decision to back brilliant talent in Lanarkshire, is proof that our AI Growth Zones are already playing their part in reindustrialising Britain and delivering good growth in every postcode. By using the National Wealth Fund to unlock private finance, we’re transforming Scotland into an AI powerhouse – delivering high-skilled jobs, training, and new opportunities that people can access on their doorstep.”

Earlier this year, DataVita’s North Lanarkshire site was awarded Scotland’s first AI Growth Zone designation, recognising the company’s role in building the next generation of UK AI infrastructure.