Backing for new data centre on steelworks site

Nicholas Thomas, Local Democracy Reporter

Plans for a “modern, energy efficient” data centre on part of a former steelworks site in south Wales have won council approval.

Applicant Carbon3.AI has proposed redeveloping a corner of the Liberty Steel site, on the eastern bank of the River Usk, to create a data centre – a specialist facility housing computer systems – to “support the UK’s digital and AI sectors”.

The firm is described as aiming to “deliver a network of sovereign, sustainable, and secure artificial intelligence (AI) data centres” nationwide.

In a supporting statement, agents Egniol said the Newport location is “strategically located” and would also offer an “environmental upgrade of an existing brownfield site”.

Council planners describe the site as “disused” and said the proposals would allow a “server farm” to be built on the first floor level, while the ground floor would be used for car parking.

The data centre could create eight jobs if completed, the planners noted.

A location next to the River Usk does mean the data centre faces a flood risk, but the agents said sensitive equipment would be installed on raised platforms or mezzanines, which “ensures the facility can remain safe and secure in the unlikely event of floodwater ingress”.

The development site is also currently subject to a separate application to raise the ground level around the building.

If completed, the data centre will run continuously under a “small team” of technical and maintenance staff, and will be accessed using the site’s existing roads.

“Taken together, the proposed development delivers clear economic and environmental benefits with no adverse effects,” the agents said. “It accords with the development plan when read as a whole and supports [the] Welsh Government’s objectives for productive, low-carbon, digitally-enabled growth.”