Preparatory works are due to begin later this year on a landmark £10 billion data centre development at the former Blyth Power Station site in Northumberland. The project, led by QTS, a subsidiary of US investment giant Blackstone, secured outline planning approval in March and will see ten data centre buildings constructed over the next decade, covering 540,000 square metres.

The Cambois site, 30km north of Newcastle, has a storied industrial past. Once home to Blyth Power Station, demolished in 2003, it was later earmarked for Britishvolt’s £3.8 billion battery gigafactory before the company’s collapse in 2023. Blackstone’s move to redevelop the land as a hyperscale data campus reflects surging global demand for cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) capacity.

Each of the ten buildings will stand up to 35 metres tall, housing around 72 megawatts of IT capacity for large-scale cloud storage and AI workloads. Alongside substations and generators, the scheme includes sustainable features such as a closed-loop water system to reduce environmental impact.

The economic benefits are significant. More than 1,200 long-term construction jobs and 2,700 indirect roles are expected, with around 400 permanent specialist positions once the site is fully operational. QTS has pledged to prioritise local hiring and training, supported by a £110 million investment package for job creation and growth along the Northumberland Line corridor.

Construction will be phased through to 2035, beginning with clearance, earthworks and compound setup. Environmental mitigation is also planned, including a £40,000 contribution to improve the nearby Wader Mitigation Site. Logistics will favour rail and port deliveries, with worker shuttle services and noise restrictions designed to minimise disruption to local communities.

The development dovetails with the UK government’s ambition to establish the country as an AI leader. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Artificial Intelligence Plan includes AI “growth zones” and a new supercomputer to expand national computational capacity twentyfold by 2030. Projects such as the Blyth campus provide the backbone infrastructure to deliver these goals.

Industry voices stress the wider benefits. Dave Seed of Qube Residential notes that AI has the potential to transform sectors such as property management, making investments in digital infrastructure foundational to broader economic productivity.

For Northumberland, the scheme represents both regeneration and reinvention: a major foreign direct investment that will reshape the local economy while supporting Britain’s position as a global hub for AI innovation. While future planning and environmental challenges remain, the project sets a positive example of responsible, forward-looking development at scale.

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