The UK's first AI Growth Zone, based at Culham in Oxfordshire, announced by the Prime Minister in January 2025 as part of the AI Opportunities Action Plan. Government describes AI Growth Zones as hubs for AI-enabled data centres with improved access to power and planning support.
Investment
- Stated investment
- Not published
- Lead organisations
- Not published
- Announced
- 13 January 2025
- Target live
- Not published
Power and grid
- Published capacity
- 100 MW
- Power notes
- 100MW initial steady-state power via existing 132kV/400kV grid connection at Culham Campus, with plans to scale to 500MW; up to 20MW reserved for UKAEA fusion R&D use. UKAEA is seeking a Strategic Investment Partner (STRIDE programme) to develop the site; no operator/developer confirmed as of the last check.
- Grid connection
- Not published
- Cooling and water
- Not published
Planning
- Planning authority
- Not published
- Planning reference
- Not published
- Current status
- Approved
- Floor area
- Not published
Evidence quality
- Confidence
- High confidence
- AI relevance
- High — AI/compute led
- Verified
- Yes
- Last updated
- 8 October 2026
Benefits vs drawbacks
Benefits
Timeline
Culham named the UK's first AI Growth Zone in the AI Opportunities Action Plan.
Source
Progress
Announced · 13 January 2025
Zone announced by government
Investors and local authorities gear up as AI Growth Zone delivery gathers speeddesignation · 13 January 2025
Designated UK's first AI Growth Zone
Announced as part of the AI Opportunities Action Plan; UKAEA to seek a private investment partner.
UK government announces that the first AI Growth Zone will be located at Culham, Oxfordshire
Key facts as published
- Designation
- First UK AI Growth Zone
- Government support
- £5 million per AI Growth Zone for local business adoption and skills
Sources
- Investors and local authorities gear up as AI Growth Zone delivery gathers speed — DSIT (GOV.UK), 30 April 2025
- AI Growth Zones (collection) — DSIT (GOV.UK), 13 November 2025
- Strategic Investment Opportunity at Culham Campus (STRIDE) — UKAEA / Culham Campus
- AI Growth Zones yet to accelerate planning activity, FOI data suggests — Data Centre Review, 20 August 2026
- The UK government's AI Growth Zones strategy: Everything you need to know — Computer Weekly (secondary)
Where this connects
- Tracker entry for Culham AI Growth Zone — the same record inside the UK data-centre tracker.
- All tracked projects in South East
- UK AI Energy Index — the indicators we track for AI-driven electricity demand.
- AI growth zone impact calculator — model the electricity implications of a zone of a given size.