DataVita switches 500MW Scottish AI datacentre plan to fully grid-served power

DataVita’s planned 500-megawatt AI datacentre development in Chapelhall, near Glasgow, will rely entirely on the National Grid—not the direct renewable-power connections it previously promised. The change, reported by The Guardian on November 7, shifts the project’s power plan from dedicated connections to grid supply covered by a renewable electricity purchasing agreement.

A different route for the electricity

The earlier announcement described more than 1 gigawatt of capacity, including wind, solar and battery storage, connected directly to the datacentres through private wires.

DataVita now describes the development as “fully grid served” and says its grid electricity will be supplied through a renewable power purchase agreement. The distinction is between a direct connection and a purchasing arrangement: the latter does not restore the dedicated power links described in the original announcement.

The two headline capacity figures also refer to different things. The 500MW figure describes the planned datacentre development; the earlier figure of more than 1GW described the proposed wind, solar and storage capacity. Neither is a measure of electricity already being delivered to the planned facilities.

Our datacentres are being designed to be grid served … Our grid supply will be through a renewable power purchase agreement.

DataVita spokesperson, responding to The Guardian

Renewables remain a pledge, direct links a possibility

DataVita disputes that it misrepresented its earlier intentions. A spokesperson told The Guardian that its commitment to renewable energy was unchanged. The company says the electricity it draws from the grid will be largely renewable, preserving its stated energy goal while changing the infrastructure proposed to supply the site.

When previously questioned about the renewable-power pledge, DataVita said the arrangement depended on final commercial agreements, planning, grid and consenting processes. It now leaves open the possibility of future connections from wind and solar farms, including a wind and solar park it proposes to build in North Lanarkshire. Those connections are a possibility, not the basis of the current fully grid-served design.

Public backing and the grid constraint

The Chapelhall project is part of the UK’s AI infrastructure strategy, with DataVita set to build an AI growth zone in Lanarkshire. The company has said the development would bring 3,400 jobs. It also remains backed by £202 million in public guarantees from the National Wealth Fund—guarantees rather than a reported cash grant.

The national strategy envisaged incentives for developers, potentially including energy discounts and faster planning approvals. But Britain’s datacentre projects face years-long waits for grid connections, while energy costs are higher than in most of Europe, The Guardian reported. Those conditions make the route to electricity a central delivery issue, not just a detail of the project’s environmental description.

Kat Jones, director of the charity Action to Protect Rural Scotland, called DataVita’s change emblematic of exaggerated claims by Scottish datacentre developers. She argued that large AI datacentres need highly reliable grid power and cannot run on renewables alone.