Cambois data centre campus
QTS (Blackstone)
Outline planning permission, with all matters reserved, granted by Northumberland County Council on 8 May 2025 for up to ten Class B8 data centre buildings totalling up to 540,000 sqm gross internal area, plus a substation, emergency generators and ancillary structures. The council committee report states approximately 72 MW of IT capacity per building, about 720 MW across the full campus; this is recorded as IT load. Initial earthworks began in October 2025 and reserved matters for phase 1 were approved in December 2025, so the project is recorded as under construction.
Key facts
- Operator / developer
- QTS (Blackstone)
- Location
- Land at former power station site on the northern side of Cambois, Northumberland, Cambois, North East, United Kingdom
- Status
- Under construction
- Facility type
- Data centre
- AI relevance
- Not stated
- Floor area
- 540,000 m²
- Construction jobs
- 1,200
- Permanent jobs
- 400
Power & grid
- Published capacity
- 720 MW — Published IT loadThe IT load the operator or planning documents state the facility will draw.
- Share of UK tracked capacity
- 20% of published it load
- Network operator
- SSE (on-site substation); National Grid
- Grid position
- About 1,100MW operational power requirement; on-site SSE substation connecting to a National Grid substation south of the site (committee report)
- Power
- The approved outline scheme comprises up to ten data centre buildings, each stated in the council committee report as providing approximately 72 MW of IT capacity, giving approximately 720 MW of IT capacity across the full campus. The report also records 580 standby generators across the campus (1 x 1.25 MWe and 57 x 2.4 MWe per building). No grid connection capacity is published.
- Backup generation
- 1,380.5 MW
- Backup fuel
- Diesel
- On-site generation
- 580 diesel standby generators (58 per building across 10 buildings: 1 x 1.25MWe + 57 x 2.4MWe each), fitted with SCR; about 2 hours of testing per generator per year. MW total is calculated from the configuration in the committee report.
- Heat reuse
- Space to be designed in for a future district heating connection; developer welcomes talks with local partners.
Planning
- Planning route
- Local planning (TCPA)
- Planning reference
- 24/04112/OUTES
- Planning decision
- Application permitted (outline, all matters reserved)
- Decision date
- 8 May 2025
- Green belt
- No
- Land area
- 102.3 ha
- Recorded objections
- 2
- Recorded support
- 6
Benefits vs drawbacks
Benefits
S106: £40,000 for a wader mitigation site; education, employment and training plan; local supplier strategy; local recruitment within 25 miles prioritised.
Timeline
Northumberland County Council permitted the outline application (24/04112/OUTES).
Source
Reality Score
Sources
- Planning application 24/04112/OUTES - Outline application for up to ten data centre buildings, former power station site, Cambois
Primary record · Northumberland County Council · 2025-05-08 · accessed 2026-08-12
- Strategic Planning Committee report, application 24/04112/OUTES, Land at former power station site, Cambois
Secondary source · Northumberland County Council · 2025-03-04
- Enabling works now underway for £10 billion QTS data centre campus in Northumberland
Secondary source · Ridge and Partners · 2025-11-12
- First phase of Blyth data centre construction approved
Secondary source · BBC News · 2025-12-02
Last verified
27 September 2026
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