Plans submitted for ‘industry-leading’ green data centre in Larbert

The proposed Larbert Data Centre Campus is located at Glenbervie Business Park on Bellsdyke Road, Larbert, on land owned by Scottish Enterprise. The site covers around 55 acres of vacant land, which is allocated for business and industry use.

A full planning application, which responds to government planning policy which designates green data centres as essential infrastructure of national importance, has now been accepted by the council. The application outlines in detail how the Edinburgh and York-based developer plans to deliver a major data centre on the site just south of the M876.

Last year, the developer unveiled plans to develop another nationally significant data centre at Ravenscraig, with a planning application for that site expected to be submitted this summer.

The Larbert application follows extensive public consultation and meetings with the local community, including two public events at Glenbervie House, where residents shared ideas for community development and green space improvements which can be included in future plans.

If approved, the development – which was first unveiled last autumn – would bring significant investment and long-term employment to the area, including almost £1 billion capital investment in Scotland, more than 5,000 jobs during construction and more than 1,300 long-term skilled jobs during operation, of which more than 500 would be local jobs with a predicted average annual salary of £56,000.

The site would be powered by confirmed grid connections with first power and operations scheduled for 2028. The project will also connect to Apatura’s already-consented battery energy storage (BESS) site two miles to the north.

Apatura Energy chief executive officer Giles Hanglin said: “We have been working very closely with landowner Scottish Enterprise, Falkirk Council’s Inward Investment Team, as well as individuals and organisations in the Falkirk area to ensure our proposals dovetail with the local development plan and will make a sustainable and positive long-term contribution to the families and businesses in the area.

“The Larbert site has been selected for its strategic position and strong grid connectivity to the nearby Denny substation making it ideally placed to meet Scotland’s growing demand for secure, critical, and high-capacity digital infrastructure.

“Our plan is to make the Larbert Data Centre Campus home to one of the most advanced data centres in Europe. Its proximity to transport connections and key research, education, and innovation hubs makes it an ideal location, plus our site is only 20 miles northeast of the Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone (designated by the UK Government).

“If approved, our Larbert project would cement central Scotland’s growing reputation as a global destination for investment in this fast-moving new technology.”

Victoria Carmichael, Scottish Enterprise director of property, growth infrastructure and major projects, said: “As Scotland’s national economic development agency, Scottish Enterprise welcomes the ambition and scale of the proposed investment and the opportunities it could create.”

In May this year, at the All Energy conference in Glasgow, Fintan Slye, chief executive of the UK’s National Energy System Operator, said that locating data centres in Scotland – where renewable energy is plentiful – could help lower consumer bills.

Giles Hanglin added: “Our proposal meets all the core principles which will be set out in the recently launched industry charter Delivering green data centres in Scotland, including maximising the use of renewable electricity, making the site district heat ready and minimising water use.

 “We remain in contact with a number of community organisations in the Falkirk area to ensure our plans evolve in tandem with the local community’s aspirations,” Hanglin concludes.

Larbert is one of a number of grid-ready sites Apatura is progressing across Scotland’s central belt, backed by over 1.6GW of confirmed grid connections, making them one of only a few UK developers ready to deliver data centre infrastructure at this scale.