Data centre planned for former Scottish steelworks

Renewable energy developer Apatura has put forward plans to transform former steelworks at Ravenscraig into one of the UK’s largest ‘green’ data centres.

Apatura plans to develop a data centre with battery energy storage on 160 acres at the site located in central Scotland, less than 20km east of Glasgow. It will be powered by 550 megawatts of grid connections due to come online by 2030.

The Ravenscraig data centre would harness Scotland’s growing supply of renewables, using constrained wind and solar generation that’s often wasted on windy, sunny days, helping to reduce grid congestion and lower consumer bills throughout the UK.

Ravenscraig is one of five AI-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 AI infrastructure at this scale.

Apatura is working closely with North Lanarkshire Council and site owners Ravenscraig Ltd to advance the proposal. Last month, Apatura put forward Ravenscraig as a candidate in the UK Government’s AI Growth Zone initiative which is now under consideration by the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology.

Apatura CEO Giles Hanglin said: “We’ve secured the land and grid, and we’re already working closely with relevant organisations locally and nationally to make sure the benefits are widely felt.

“If we were selected as an AI Growth Zone it would be a significant endorsement of our ambition to make Scotland a powerhouse of green, AI-enabled digital infrastructure – starting with Ravenscraig and extending across the central belt.”