Council paves way for data centre on Britishvolt site

Britishvolt had planned to build a car battery factory on the land in Northumberland

A council has paved the way for a new data campus on land previously earmarked for a giant battery plant.

Northumberland County Council has agreed to remove a buy-back clause on the site in Cambois, Northumberland, in exchange for £110m from property developer Blackstone.

Britishvolt had planned to build a £3.8bn car battery factory on the site before the company collapsed.

Conservative council leader Glen Sanderson said the deal would create "hundreds of jobs" and attract high-tech companies to the county.

The authority claimed the development could lead to investment in the area of up to £10bn.

It had previously said the project could create more than 1,600 direct jobs, including 1,200 long-term construction jobs, and more than 2,700 related jobs.

A spokesperson for Blackstone said the company looked forward to "engaging" with the council and the "wider stakeholder community".

'Technology for tomorrow'

Blackstone said a series of data centres on the Cambois site would provide computing power to support the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

It already owns QTS, which operates 34 such facilities in Europe and the US, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Sanderson said the deal would place Northumberland "on the global map".

"We’re making a decision about technology for tomorrow, for the world tomorrow," he said.

Deputy council leader Richard Wearmouth said the project would put the North East "at the heart of the AI revolution".

Britishvolt had promised to create 3,000 jobs in Northumberland with its so-called gigafactory.

But, after struggling to turn a profit, the business collapsed.

Australian firm Recharge Industries took control after the company entered administration in January.

The council said a gigafactory could still be built in the county.

Speaking at the authority's cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Mr Sanderson said there were "sufficient parcels of land that would support a very large-scale enterprise" alongside other industries.

“We know there are others who are looking carefully and with interest at these sites," he said.