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AI Growth Zones (AIGZs) are designated sites in the United Kingdom where the government has made commitments to provide streamlined planning consent, priority grid connections, and coordinated infrastructure support for the development of artificial intelligence-ready data centres. The programme was established under the UK government's AI Opportunities Action Plan, published in January 2025.
Background
editIn January 2025, the UK government published its AI Opportunities Action Plan, which included a commitment to expand the country's sovereign compute capacity by at least twenty-fold by 2030.[1] AI Growth Zones were identified in the plan as a mechanism for attracting private investment in data centre infrastructure by reducing barriers related to planning and energy access.[2]
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) published a policy paper, Delivering AI Growth Zones, in November 2025, setting out a package of supporting measures.[3] By early 2026, the government reported that 38 of 50 commitments in the Action Plan had been met within the first twelve months, and that £68 billion in private investment had been pledged since January 2025.[4]
Policy framework
editPlanning
editData centres within AI Growth Zones are subject to accelerated planning processes. The government proposed classifying qualifying data centres as nationally significant infrastructure, with a target of reducing consenting times to twelve months from an average of eighteen months.[5] A dedicated AIGZ Delivery Unit was established to coordinate planning, power, and investment across designated sites.[6]
Energy
editEach zone is supported by a Connections Accelerator Service, which provides engineering support for grid connection delays. Sites located in areas with surplus renewable energy generation — including wind capacity in Scotland and northern England — may qualify for discounted electricity tariffs. A 500MW data centre in an eligible Scottish zone could, according to industry estimates, see annual electricity cost reductions of approximately £24 per MWh.[7]
Local retention of business rates
editIn England, local authorities within AI Growth Zones will retain 100% of business rate growth generated by zone developments for twenty-five years from April 2027.[8]
Designated zones
editAs of May 2026, five AI Growth Zones have been designated across Great Britain.[9]
Culham, Oxfordshire
editCulham was designated as the first AI Growth Zone on 13 January 2025, at the time of the Action Plan's publication. The site is located at Culham Campus, home to the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) in South Oxfordshire. A data centre beginning at 100MW is under development, with plans to scale to 500MW. The UKAEA launched a procurement process for a private sector development partner. The Culham site is also being used as a pilot for the integration of small modular reactors (SMRs) and renewable energy sources to supply data centre power requirements.[10][11]
North East England
editThe North East was designated as the second AI Growth Zone on 17 September 2025. The zone comprises two sites: Cobalt Park in North Tyneside, home to the Stellium Data Centers campus, and a site at Cambois near Blyth in Northumberland where Blackstone subsidiary QTS is developing a data centre campus at a committed investment of £10 billion. QTS received planning approval and began site preparation works in early 2026, including the installation of piling foundations for the first building.[12][13]
At the time of the zone's designation, Cobalt Park was also announced as a planned location for Stargate UK, a joint initiative between OpenAI, Nvidia, and Nscale. In April 2026, OpenAI paused its involvement in Stargate UK, citing high UK energy costs and regulatory uncertainty as factors preventing long-term infrastructure commitment. Blackstone's separate Blyth development was not affected by the pause.[14][15]
North Wales
editThe North Wales AI Growth Zone was announced on 13 November 2025. The zone straddles the Menai Strait, with sites at Prosperity Parc on Anglesey and at Trawsfynydd in Gwynedd. The Anglesey site is associated with the Anglesey Freeport project, and is located near Wylfa, which has been identified as a site for a small modular reactor power station to be delivered by Great British Energy–Nuclear.[16]
South Wales
editThe South Wales AI Growth Zone was announced on 20 November 2025.[17]
Lanarkshire, Scotland
editThe Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone was designated on 29 January 2026, the first such zone in Scotland. The site is located in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, and is operated by Scottish data centre company DataVita, a subsidiary of HFD Group. The designation is projected to create more than 3,400 jobs and attract £8.2 billion in private investment. DataVita is delivering the zone in partnership with cloud infrastructure company CoreWeave, which has committed £1.5 billion to the project. Plans include 500MW of data centre capacity and more than 1GW of privately wired renewable energy infrastructure. The site takes advantage of Scotland's surplus renewable energy capacity, which can exceed grid transmission capacity at peak generation periods.[18]
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ "AI Opportunities Action Plan". GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ↑ "AI Growth Zones". GOV.UK. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ↑ "Delivering AI Growth Zones". GOV.UK. 13 November 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ↑ "AI Opportunities Action Plan: One Year On". GOV.UK. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ "Data Centres & AI Growth Zones in planning: Change on the horizon in 2026". Burges Salmon. January 2026. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ↑ "Delivering AI Growth Zones". GOV.UK. 13 November 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ↑ "UK plans AI Growth Zone in North Wales, announces data center power and planning reforms". Data Centre Dynamics. 13 November 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ↑ "Delivering AI Growth Zones". GOV.UK. 13 November 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ↑ "UK AI Opportunities Action Plan: 2026 Progress Report". CMS Law-Now. February 2026. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ↑ "AI Opportunities Action Plan". GOV.UK. 13 January 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ↑ "UK AI Opportunities Action Plan: 2026 Progress Report". CMS Law-Now. February 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ "North East England set for billions in investment and thousands of jobs as UK and US ink tech partnership". GOV.UK. 17 September 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ↑ "QTS reaffirms commitment to North East AI Growth Zone". Data Centre Review. April 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ "OpenAI halts UK Stargate project amid regulatory and energy cost concerns". CNBC. 9 April 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ "QTS reaffirms commitment to North East AI Growth Zone". Data Centre Review. April 2026. Retrieved 22 May 2026.
- ↑ "UK plans AI Growth Zone in North Wales, announces data center power and planning reforms". Data Centre Dynamics. 13 November 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ↑ "AI Growth Zones". GOV.UK. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
- ↑ "More than 3,400 jobs and targeted support for local communities as Lanarkshire named latest AI Growth Zone". GOV.UK. 29 January 2026. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
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