Infrastructure Insights: Major Data Centre Projects to Watch

Once quietly operating behind the scenes of the digital economy, data centres have now received the UK’s first Critical National Infrastructure designation in almost a decade, highlighting their crucial role in supporting everything from NHS systems and financial markets to AI models.

Expert Insight: Why Infrastructure Remains Stable

Ed Griffiths, Head of Business and Client Analytics here at Barbour ABI, recently appeared on Landmark’s podcast, where he shared his insights on the factors contributing to the stability of the infrastructure sector.

Ed highlighted “Big infrastructure projects are typically more resilient to some of the economic winding roads we’ve found ourselves on because they take a long time to start, the funding is secured well in advance, and they’ll then run for some time.

There is a lot of excitement in infrastructure, but specifically data centre infrastructure as it’s going from strength to strength. Around 2 years ago, we saw a construction value of around £2 million, by 2030 it will probably be around £4 - £5 billion.”

Building on what Ed shared, our Construction Project Leads Platform has recorded a significant surge in data centre projects across the UK. This growth reflects the increasing demand and investment in this critical infrastructure sector, with numerous high-profile developments currently underway.

Top 5 Data Centre Projects by Value

 Below are the top 5 data centre projects on our platform ranked by project value, all of which are currently at the Outline Approval stage.

 Northumberland Energy Park - New AI Data Centre

Start date:  January 2031

Finish date: April 2034

Duration: 39 months

Address: Former Blyth Power Station, Cambois, Blyth, Northumberland, NE24 1RD

Project value: £10bn

Development type: New build

Client: Blackstone Group International Limited

Project ID: 12785975

Scheme: Erection of ten data centre buildings of totalling up to 540,000 square metres gross internal area in addition to ancillary structures, substation, emergency generators and other associated works.

(Image source: ww.corgan.com)

South Mimms Service Station - Data Centre

Start date:  October 2030

Finish date: January 2034

Duration: 39 months

Address: E/O South Mimms Service Station, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, EN6 3QQ

Project value: £3.8bn

Development type: New build / Demolition

Client: Hertsmere Borough Council & DC01 UK Limited

Project ID: 12809263

Scheme: Erection of data centre with parking and landscaping.

The Humber Tech Park Data Centre

Start date:  July 2028

Finish date: October 2031

Duration: 39 months

Address: S/o A160 South Killingholme, Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, DN40 3QG

Project value: £3bn

Development type: New build

Client: Humber Tech Park Limited

Project ID: 12776851

Scheme: Erection of data centre providing 384MW of IT load and specialising in next-generation AI training, including ancillary offices, substation, storage & 300,000 sq. ft horticultural glasshouse including internal roads, parking & landscaping.

(Image source: www.pegasuspg.co.uk)

Abbots Langley Data Centre

Start date:  January 2031

Finish date: April 2034

Duration: 39 months

Address: Bedmond Road, Abbots Langley, Hertfordshire, WD5 0QE

Project value: £800m

Development type: New build / Demolition

Client: Greystoke Land Limited

Project ID: 12717884

Scheme: 98MW data centre split across two buildings with car parking, landscaping and access following demolition.

Wilton International - Data Centre

Start date:  June 2026

Finish date: June 2029

Duration: 36 months

Address: Former Croda International Site, Wilton International, Middlesbrough, Cleveland, TS10 4RG

Project value: £523.8m

Development type: New build

Client: CTW Northern Limited

Project ID: 12709604

Scheme: Three buildings comprising of a 48MW data centre and a two-storey communications building with associated storage tanks, back-up biofuel generators, landscaping, car parking and ancillary infrastructure.

Accessing Data Centre Projects from Barbour ABI

Our in-house research team are consistently tracking these projects to bring you accurate and up-to-date project information. If you are a client of Barbour ABI, simply click the Project IDs to view and save the projects.

Not a client of Barbour ABI? Simply comment which data centre you are interested in and a member of our team can let you know when it is next updated.