Sadie Pitman writes in CoStar about the development of hyperscale data centres

Following the approval of a new hyperscale data centre and industrial hub at Skelton Grange in Leeds, what are the implications for direction of travel in the market?

Amongst key property and planning law complexities in building a hyperscale data centre, are the consideration of developing on former industrial or brownfield sites.
Securing ‘power enabled land' is a particularly critical stage, and the classification of data centres as critical national infrastructure is additionally shaping the market.

The recommendation and approval of a hyperscale data centre is a significant step forward, indicating to the industry that there is momentum for such facilities to be implemented in the UK. Several priorities must be considered to achieve this, not only securing a large geographic space, but ensuring access to back-up power amongst other infrastructure requirements. 

Sadie Pitman, Associate in our Planning, Infrastructure & Environment team, writes in CoStar:

Before a project even gets off the ground in planning terms, picking the right location and ensuring its power supply capabilities is vital for a data centre. The power requirements of hyperscale data centres are staggering, being equivalent to that of a small town.

The signs are encouraging that the case for a hyperscale data centre in the UK can be made. Whether or not it gets built out is another question entirely.

Read the full article in CoStar here.