£800m data centre plan for Scotland

Scotland is set to be the home of one of the world’s largest computer data storage centres.

The proposed £800 million scheme, to be built on a 70-acre site in Lockerbie, will include major transport and infrastructure improvements and is expected to eventually attract an estimated £3.5 billion of inward investment.

Plans submitted to Dumfries and Galloway Council include facilities to house computer systems and data, a new business park and hundreds of sustainable homes.

The developer, Lockerbie Data Centres, believes that Scotland’s cool climate makes it an ideal location for data centres, and firms already having expressed an interest in the new site are understood to include global computing giants Microsoft and Cisco.

A number of other similar schemes are also in the pipeline for Scotland, with a planned £1.2 billion development in Ecclefechan for property company IVI, as well as a new mini data centre for technology firm IBM at its base in Greenock.

John Hume, Chairman of Lockerbie Data Centres, commented: "Global demand for data services is growing at 15% per annum and, by 2010, 88% of all current data centres will be full. We need eight to 10 of these centres, but we're hoping this will be the first. The London area and the M4 corridor can't take any more.

If the plans get the go-ahead, work could start as early as next year. The developer says that the scheme will create 1,000 permanent jobs and an additional 1,000 construction posts.

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