Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone
DataVita, in partnership with CoreWeave
Scotland's AI Growth Zone, delivered by data centre company DataVita around its Airdrie site in partnership with AI cloud firm CoreWeave. Government states £8.2 billion of private investment is committed, supporting more than 3,400 jobs and including a renewables park alongside the data centres.
Key facts
- Operator / developer
- DataVita, in partnership with CoreWeave
- Location
- Airdrie, Scotland, United Kingdom
- Status
- Approved
- Facility type
- AI growth zone
- AI relevance
- High — AI/compute led
- Announced
- 29 January 2026
- Stated investment
- £8,200,000,000
- Private investment committed
- £8.2 billion
- Jobs
- More than 3,400, including around 800 high-paying AI roles
- Community fund
- Up to £543 million over 15 years (GOV.UK)
- On-site energy
- Renewables park planned alongside data centres
- Aug 2026 financing
- £300m debt facility (GOV.UK, 18 Aug 2026) funding expansion of the existing DataVita DV1 datacentre and construction of a new DV3 building at Chapelhall -- see the DataVita DV3 record
- Dell Technologies
- Dell Technologies established a Scottish base at Mercury House on the AI Innovation Park, announced alongside the £300m financing (GOV.UK, 18 Aug 2026)
Power & grid
- Published capacity
- 500 MW — Reported capacity, definition not publishedA megawatt figure was reported but the source does not define what it measures, so it is excluded from every total.
- Power
- DataVita states a total capacity of 500 MW for its Lanarkshire campus, and separately more than 1 GW of private-wire renewable generation, which is generation rather than demand and is not a data-centre load figure. The 500 MW is an operator claim for an area-wide programme, not a consented facility figure, and does not appear in the UK Government designation statement of 29 January 2026. It is excluded from every total.
- On-site generation
- 500MW+ of on-site renewable generation planned, with solar and wind nearby (government).
- Heat reuse
- Excess heat from cooling planned for University Hospital Monklands (government).
Benefits vs drawbacks
Benefits
Community fund of up to £543m over 15 years (skills, apprenticeships, coding clubs, charities and foodbanks); £1m a year from HFD Group for local charities; 50 apprenticeships; £5m government funding.
Timeline
Sources
- More than 3,400 jobs and targeted support for local communities to help tackle the cost of living as Lanarkshire named latest AI Growth Zone
Secondary source · DSIT / Scotland Office (GOV.UK) · 29 January 2026 (updated 3 February 2026)
- Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone secures £300 million investment as Dell establishes Scottish base
Secondary source · Cabinet Office / DSIT (GOV.UK) · 18 August 2026
- DataVita blog: funding secured for data centre expansion
Secondary source · DataVita
Last verified
24 September 2026
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