Devon Data Campus (Xlinks), near Great Torrington
Xlinks
Xlinks proposes a campus of up to 1.5GW of AI data centre capacity plus a 1.8GW battery storage facility on about 344ha of farmland near Great Torrington in the North Devon UNESCO biosphere reserve, with an estimated £12.2–13.8bn investment. Two applications to Torridge District Council are expected; none has been submitted. Public consultation has been postponed amid strong local opposition. Xlinks says some reported details, such as a drought water-use figure, reflect an outdated design.
Key facts
- Operator / developer
- Xlinks
- Location
- Between Great Torrington, Huntshaw and Weare Giffard (Alverdiscott area), North Devon, Great Torrington, South West, United Kingdom
- Status
- Proposed
- Facility type
- Data centre
- AI relevance
- High — AI/compute led
- Stated investment
- £13,800,000,000
Power & grid
- Published capacity
- 1,500 MW — Published IT loadThe IT load the operator or planning documents state the facility will draw.
- Share of UK tracked capacity
- 59.4% of published it load
- Power
- Up to 1.5GW of AI-optimised compute capacity (Xlinks); CPRE Devon reports 1.5GW IT load and 1.8GW peak site load. Battery storage 1.8GW is not data centre load.
- On-site generation
- Separate 1.8GW battery energy storage application planned alongside the data centre (about 96 acres, per CPRE Devon).
Planning
- Council
- Torridge District Council
- Planning route
- Local planning (TCPA)
- Land area
- 344 ha
Benefits vs drawbacks
Benefits
Drawbacks
- About 344ha of farmland inside the North Devon UNESCO biosphere reserveSource
- Five buildings up to 40m high and a 96-acre battery facility in open countrysideSource
- Early design documents suggested up to 2.9bn litres of water a year in severe drought; Xlinks says this is outdatedSource
- Developer has not built a data centre before; petition of 36,000+ signatures for a pause outside AI Growth ZonesSource
Xlinks promises community benefit packages, skills/STEAM programmes and local supply chain commitments.
Timeline
Public consultation postponed amid growing local opposition; no application submitted yet.
Source
Sources
- Devon data campus
Secondary source · Xlinks
- Massive AI datacentre and battery system proposed in Devon
Secondary source · CPRE Devon
- Council backed Devon AI datacentre before it went public
Secondary source · The Next Web (reporting The Guardian) · September 2026
Last verified
30 September 2026
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