Construction work starts on major new data centre project

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

Work on a project which will see one of the world’s biggest batteries built in Cardiff has begun, one of the firms behind it has announced.

Latos Ltd and other companies, including PCG Ltd and TEP Ltd, were recently given planning permission to build a battery storage site and data centre on land off Rover Way in Splott.

The data centre element of the scheme, which Latos is responsible for, will be powered by renewable energy and will create hundreds of jobs.

Latos said its data centre in Cardiff, which will be one of 40 the company hopes to build across the UK by 2030, is now under construction.

AI

Founder of Latos Data Centres, Mike Carlin, said: “The growth of AI means the UK’s data centre map needs to change.

“Organisations will need more computing power closer to where it is needed and the ability to specify the exact facilities they need.”

The battery storage facility, or energy park as it is also known, will have a 1,000MW battery storage capacity on-site.

Currently the biggest battery storage facility is in California and has a capacity of 875MW to store surplus solar energy.

There is a plan for a £750m facility with a capacity of 1,040MW in Manchester.

Jobs

Work at the Cardiff site will create 1,000 jobs during the construction phase and about 200 when it is open.

Additionally it is expected that 250-300 roles in the local supply chain will be created.

The idea behind the energy park is to have supply of stored energy, produced from a renewable source like wind power, to help meet growing energy demands in the UK in a way that is environmentally-friendly.

Motorcycle riders stopped using the Rover Way site, which was once subject to controversial plans for a wood-chipped biomass plant, this summer.

About 2,000 cubic metres of material will need to be redistributed and potentially removed from the site in order to level it for the energy park.

This will result in a 70% loss of habitat space.

Mitigation

No compensation site has been offered in mitigation for the loss of land but the council will benefit from a legal agreement with the developer which will see it gain £250,000.

It is hoped this can be used to fund biodiversity projects or find replacement land in mitigation.

The energy park will be made up of 828 battery units stored in shipping containers.

On the other side of the development the data centre will be 25m in height and comprise of eight floors.