Scotland's AI Growth Zone gets a wee £300M power-up

Datacenter operator DataVita has secured £300 million ($406 million) to expand its campus in Scotland's Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone, while Dell is moving into the area – albeit only into a regional office. The AI Growth Zone, unveiled earlier this year, centers on DataVita's server farm campus in Airdrie. The operator has secured financing to expand its existing facility and build another nearby, promising hundreds of construction jobs and 100 permanent roles. The £300 million debt facility comes from a lending syndicate comprising ING, ABN AMRO, Santander, the Scottish National Investment Bank, and Siemens Financial Services. The UK's National Wealth Fund is backing it with a £202 million guarantee. DataVita says the financing will expand its existing DV1 facility and fund construction of a new one, DV3. For anyone wondering about the missing number, DV2 sits beneath an office in Glasgow. Once expanded, DV1 will provide 40 MW of capacity, as will DV3. CoreWeave has already leased the capacity of both bit barns for 15 years. The AI cloud operator provides infrastructure to several leading model developers. DataVita did not wait for the financing to land. Work on the DV1 expansion began last December, and construction of DV3 followed in April. Work is expected to be complete by the end of this year for the extension to DV1 and summer 2027 for DV3. The firm claims the two developments will support about 600 construction jobs and create roughly 100 permanent, highly skilled roles once operational. DataVita expects the development to be the first stage of a larger campus intended to establish North Lanarkshire as a hub for AI infrastructure. Perhaps keen to talk up its AI Growth Zone policy, the government tells us that Dell Technologies is to establish a base in the area. But it seems the global IT giant is simply setting up an administrative office at Mercury House in Lanarkshire's AI Innovation Park, which will be the new home for the company's Scottish team. Dell told us: "Dell's team in Scotland includes customer-facing and business support functions, alongside technical specialists who work with customers to develop and deploy technology solutions." AI Growth Zones were announced as part of the government's AI Opportunities Action Plan at the start of last year, aimed at using AI to drive economic growth in the UK. A key part of this has been encouraging the building of more datacenters to host the necessary IT infrastructure. The government said AI Growth Zone sites would be selected partly according to the availability of sufficient power. Lanarkshire is well placed for this, thanks to its abundant energy supply and strategic position within Scotland's electricity network. It is claimed the site's energy needs will be met overwhelmingly by renewables thanks to Scotland's low-carbon energy mix. "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," said DataVita managing director Danny Quinn. "This type of investment in Scotland's datacenter infrastructure would have been unthinkable just two or three years ago. That is the impact AI is having." UK AI minister Kanishka Narayan said the announcements would help keep Scotland at the forefront of development, while claiming AI was already helping scientists discover medicines, improve public services, and raise business productivity. "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," he said. We're sure the people of Lanarkshire just can't wait for the benefits that AI is set to bring them. ®